KPANDO ACCIDENT CLAIMS SIX LIVES (BACK PAGE)

Six people died, three on the spot and three on the way to the Margaret Marquart Catholic Hospital, Kpando, in a fatal accident on the Kpando–Tokor road yesterday.
The 38-seater Mercedes Benz 205 D bus, with registration number AS 94 D, which was involved in the accident, was conveying bags of salt and 19 passengers, mostly traders from Ningo in the Greater Accra Region, to the Tokor Market when it plunged into a valley at about 5.50 a.m.
The dead include the driver of the Benz bus, his mate and four others who are yet to be identified. Their bodies have been deposited at the mortuary of the Margaret Marquart Catholic Hospital.
The remaining 13 passengers, mostly women, are on admission at the same hospital.
They are Sarah Tetteh, 50; Joyce Kwami, 20; Gifty Ntiamoah, 40; Tei Daniel, 26; Kofi Awatey, 37, and Ayiku Tetteh, 36.
The rest are Okutu Boitey, 46; Sarah Adotum, 24; Joyce Tetteh, 46; Amaki Dzagonu, 62; Baby Siaw, 30, and Emmanuel Akwettey, 21.
According to the medical superintendent of the hospital, the victims were all in stable condition.
According to the Kpando District Commander of Police, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Julius Ellis Agbavade, the driver was just about two kilometres away from Tokor when the accident occurred.
He attributed it to tiredness on the part of the driver because he went off the road and drove some 100 metres. It was in an attempt to get back on the road that the vehicle skidded and fell into a deep valley.
The Kpando District Chief Executive, Mr Pius Adanuti, who visited the victims at the hospital, sent his condolences to the bereaved families and wished those in the hospital a speedy recovery.
He reiterated his appeal to the Ghana Highway Authority to rehabilitate the Kpando-Ve Golokuati road which had a lot of potholes on it.
On the Kpando-Tokor road, he wondered when the GHA would heed to his call to put road markings and railings on the meandering road to prevent accidents.
He expressed his gratitude to taxi drivers at Kpando, officers of the Ghana National Fire Service and the police at Kpando for their prompt response to the accident.