It was a sad scene at Diabene, a community in the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolis of the Western region when a cement truck had an accident leading to the death of one person.
The truck with registration number GN 6512-16 had loaded eight hundred bags of cement to be distributed to some retailers at Diabene, a suburb of Takoradi and its environs.
The driver after loading the cement from its Ehyiamu depot picked up four others along the way to provide offloading assistance.
Whilst climbing a mountain in the Diabene community, the truck failed its brakes and started moving at a forced reverse speed. The driver tried to stop the vehicle but all his efforts proved unsuccessful.
One of the loading boys sitting at the back of the truck in an attempt to save his life jumped from the vehicle. But unfortunately, he fell exactly where the vehicle stopped and had his head smashed by the middle tyres.
“I was standing here when the vehicle came, he tried to climb the hill but could not so the vehicle came back on a reverse speed. The guy was sitting at the back with three others, he tried to jump from the vehicle before it landed but the tyre smashed his head on the floor,” an eyewitness, Emmanuel Abu, recounted.
The lifeless body of the loading boy whose identity is still unknown could be seen trapped under the two big middle tyres of the truck.
Personnel from the Ghana Fire Service and the Ghana Police Service had to cut through the tyres before the body was retrieved.
“We received a call about this accident, we immediately proceeded to the scene and saw the body of a young man trapped under the tyres of the vehicle. We were also told three others and the driver survived with minor injuries. The position of the deceased made it difficult for us to succeed on the rescue mission. With the help of community members, we were finally able to retrieve the body. We always advise people to stop sitting at the back of these trucks because anything can happen,” ADO1 Peter Dadzie, leader of the rescue mission from the Ghana National Fire Service told Connect FM’s Omanbapa Morning Show team.
Mr. Adu, one of the retailers who were supposed to receive the cement indicated that “we (the retailers) hired the services of the loading boys. The driver left the depot alone and we asked the guys to join him along the way to assist in the offloading process. They had already offloaded 200 bags and were distributing the remaining 600 bags when the sad incident occurred.”
By Eric Nana Gyetuah|ConnectFM|Takoradi
