2 Children killed in accident (PAGE 42, JAN 31, 2011)

Story: Nana Konadu Agyeman, Koforidua

GRIEF struck Akyem-Tafo in the Eastern Region last Tuesday when two siblings were killed in a fatal motor accident involving a Hyundai bus and a Yutong bus at the accident-prone Bunso Junction in the Eastern Region.
The deceased, identified as Christiana Dansoa Antwi, aka Nana Ama and her younger brother, Kelvin Frimpong, died when the Yutong bus rammed into the rear of the Hyundai bus on which they were travelling.
Nana Ama died instantly, while her brother was rushed to the Kyebi Government Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Nine other passengers on board the Hyundai bus, including the mother of the deceased and three other separate family members named as Gladys Tetteh, 23 and her siblings John Tetteh, five and Jonathan Tetteh, eight, also sustained serious injuries.
They were also rushed to the same hospital where the bodies of the two victims had also been deposited pending autopsy.
According to the police, the two dead children travelled together with their mother for a funeral at Anyinam and were returning to Akyem Tafo when the accident occurred at about 3.30 p.m.
Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Eastern Regional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), Superintendent James Sarfo Peprah, said the two drivers were careless because the accident could have been avoided.
He said if the driver of the Yutong bus, identified as Daniel Owusu, had “managed to slow down and swerved to the other side of the road, it would not have run into the Hyundai bus”.
According to him, Nana Ama and her younger brother and their mother joined the Hyundai bus with registration number GJ 6249 Y at Anyinam.
The bus was travelling from Anyinam to Koforidua, while the Yutong bus with registration number GN 2674 10 was from Accra to Nkawkaw.
Supt. Sarfo Peprah said on reaching the Bunso Junction, the driver of the Hyundai bus wanted to branch off the main road to Koforidua but instead of taking the out lane, he mistakenly took the inner lane, which was already being used by a taxi which was also about to join the main road.
“Since the Hyundai bus was in the lane of the taxi, the driver had to stop for the taxi to reverse but unfortunately, the Yutong bus, which was travelling at top speed, smashed the rear of the Hyundai bus, killing Nana Ama instantly and injuring others,” he stated.