A truck loaded with cement blocks ran into traders at Ashaiman Market
Pandemonium hit the Ashaiman Municipality when a KIA truck run through some traders and pedestrians, killing a young lady and injuring six others.
The truck with registration number ER 5112X was loaded with cement blocks and headed towards the Ashaiman’s traffic light at the heart of the municipality when it lost control and run into a crowd of traders and shoppers.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at the scene of the accident, the Ashaiman Police Divisional Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Peter Gyimah said, “We heard of the news and rushed to the scene, and as our duty was, we first had to secure the lives of the people. So we conveyed the victims to the hospital and have also secured the area.”
He said a follow up to the hospital confirmed the death of one female victim with six others sustaining various degrees of injury, of which one was a critical case.
He observed that his outfit was doing its best to clear people from the streets and promised to support any move by the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly (ASHMA) to make the roads safe for pedestrians and motorists.
Some eye-witnesses informed that the KIA truck was seen approaching the scene at about 9:30 am with obvious signs of a brake failure and, with a faulty horn, the driver could not signal anybody as he attempted to stop the car, thereby crushing into the people.
The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Ashaiman, Mr. Albert Boakye Okyere, who accompanied the Divisional Commander to the Tema General Hospital, said “It’s unfortunate, because human life is a big treasure and for that matter, when people suffer such injuries and death, it’s just bad.”
He observed the need for the streets to be opened for vehicular operations rather than individuals besieging the streets saying, “This is just a lesson for all of us to leave the streets and keep our selves safe, because life is precious”.
Wondering why some residents still did business on the streets, Mr. Okyere said, “They can’t complain about inadequate space for market, because at the moment, there is a big new market being developed around Adjei Kojo. Apart from that one, the Adjei Kojo market has been prepared enough for others to occupy before we finish the new market, so I don’t see why they come and cluster in the streets. But when such things happen, we all mourn with the family and learn lessons from it.”
He advised residents of Ashaiman to adhere to the fact that they could not sit in the streets and trade adding, “We don’t say so because we want to prevent people from doing business, we say so because we want people to protect themselves against such unwarranted incidents.”
