Four male pupils and a female teacher of the Ampeah Memorial School in Nkawkaw have been confirmed dead in a fatal motor accident that occurred on the Nkawkaw section of the Kumasi-Accra road late Thursday afternoon.
A Nissan Patrol vehicle said to be the official vehicle of the District Chief Executive for Atwima Kwanwoma in the Ashanti region, Prince Karikari, is said to have crashed into the Hyundai minibus.
Eyewitnesses say the driver of the vehicle attempted an unapproved U-turn while driving on the shoulders of the road from the Accra-Kumasi direction at a spot near Nanchia.
Four of the victims, including a female teacher identified as Dorcas Dede, died while receiving treatment at the Holy Family Hospital at Nkawkaw after being rushed there.
The fourth pupil who died on Friday morning was among the victims who were transferred to the Koforidua hospital for further treatment.
The accident occurred at about 3:30 p.m. at the time the victims, pupils of Ampeah Memorial School and their teachers, numbering about twenty-three, including the driver identified as Agya Ofosu Addo, were returning home after the close of school.
Eyewitnesses say the driver of the minibus, with registration GE 2291-10, used an unapproved route to join the Nkawkaw bypass at Nanchia after joining the dual carriage highway. He is said to have driven on the shoulders of the road before making the unapproved turn.
Agya Ofosu suddenly made a U-turn to join the Kumasi-Accra lanes. It was in the process of making the U-turn that the DCE’s vehicle, with registration number GT 8455-19, which was then descending a hilly portion from the Accra-Kumasi direction of the highway, crashed into the bus.
Sixteen of the victims, including the driver of the bus, 11 pupils, and a female teacher, were all rushed to the Holy Family Hospital at Nkwakaw for treatment.
Three boys and a female teacher identified as Dorcas Dede, affectionately called Madam Dorcas, gave up the ghost whilst receiving treatment.
The DCE for Atwima Kwanwoma, his driver, and three other passengers on board the Nissan Patrol were also admitted to the same hospital, where they have been in stable condition.
Information gathered at the Agyarkwa Hospital revealed that three out of six pupils who were rushed to that facility had, as of 11 p.m. on Thursday, been referred to the Koforidua General Hospital for further care.
This means three pupils and another female teacher identified as Bernice Agyei remain on admission.
News of the accident on Thursday spread like wildfire as many residents, mostly parents of Ampeah Memorial School, rushed to the hospitals in search of their wards.
It took hospital management, with the support of the police, a tough time to bring the situation under control.