Four people have lost their lives after their vehicle plunged into the Owabi River near Dabaah in the Atwima Nwabiagya North District of the Ashanti Region.
The accident occurred early Tuesday, October 29, 2024 morning while the driver, her two children and two other occupants to whom she had given a lift were using the Akropong-Dabaah road.
The emergency services are currently working to retrieve the fifth victim and the vehicle from the river.
The victims have been identified. They include Helena Yassan (the driver), aged 40, Rita Agyare, 41, and Boamah Gyasi, 28. The rest are Lordina Yassan, aged ten, and five-year-old Doreen Yassan.
“In all, they are five,” said Bobie Ansah, the presiding member at the Nwabiagya District Assembly. “It is a family of three including the woman driver and her children, a female teacher and a plumber.
“We don’t know what caused the accident, but we got a distress call and rushed to the scene and found the car afloat. We managed to retrieve four bodies but now we are searching for one more victim which the driver’s youngest child. We have spoken with traditional authorities to perform some rituals to aid our rescue mission.
“This is a black Tuesday for us,” Bobie said.
Meanwhile, the bodies of the four victims have been deposited at the morgue for preservation and autopsy.
Road crash decline
Between January and September 2024, Ghana experienced the loss of 1,817 lives in road accidents, marking an 8.35% increase from the 1,677 fatalities recorded in the same period last year, according to the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA).
Interestingly, the overall number of road crashes has declined. Over the nine-month period this year, 9,820 incidents were reported, a 7.48% decrease from 10,614 in 2023.
Pearl Adusu Sateckla, the NRSA’s public relations officer, who revealed this to asaaseradio.com, expressed concern about the rising death toll and urged drivers to adhere to traffic laws.
She said between January and September 11,408 individuals had suffered injuries in road crashes, down from 11,694 in the same period last year. Pedestrian incidents also decreased, with 1,750 struck this year compared to 1,847 in 2023.
The injury statistics stem from the 9,820 crashes this year, which involved 16,627 vehicles, a reduction from 18,056 in 2023.
Sateckla attributed these positive trends to improved compliance with traffic regulations and collaborative efforts between the NRSA, law enforcement, NGOs focused on road safety, the media and commercial road service providers.
“The decrease can be linked to the adherence to traffic regulations by drivers, especially those in commercial transport, and the various interventions by the NRSA and our partners, including the Stay Alive Campaign,” she said.
With the general election and the holiday season approaching, Sateckla assured the public that the NRSA is working actively to minimise road accidents.
To enhance road safety education, she announced the establishment of district road safety management committees across all 16 regions, with approximately 82% of the effort to realise this already completed.
Sateckla urged all road users to exercise caution, adhere to speed limits and comply with the safety regulations.
Source: Asaase Radio
