Accident victims carried in pickup to hospital as no ambulance exist

At least eleven passengers including students going on vacation are fighting for their lives at Atua Government Hospital and St.Martins Depore Hospital in Odumase after a vehicle they were on board was involved in a near-fatal accident.

The absence of functioning ambulance in the entire Lower Manya Krobo Municipality worsened the health conditions of the victims rescued from the vehicle which had landed in a ditch. The injured victims were parked in pickup vehicle and Taxis to the respective Hospitals without any emergency first aid care.

The accident vehicle – Toyota Hiace with registration Number GR 9332 Z onboard with 15 passengers – was from Kumasi heading towards Ho in the Volta Region on Friday around 5:30pm.

According to 47-year-old victim, Kojo Aboagye, the vehicle stalled while descending the sharp curve to the notorious Asitey junction stretch of the Odumase to Otorkpolu Highway, the driver lost control of the steering wheel and run into the ditch.

It took the efforts of locals who were later joined by the Police to rescue the passengers trapped in the vehicle with serious injuries.

Eleven( 11 ) victims including students are receiving treatment the St. Martins De Pores Hospital, the remaining 4 are at the emergency unit of the Atua Government Hospitals.

The lack of functioning ambulances in the entire Krobo enclave is a worry to residents.

Meanwhile, there is an increasing public outcry against Government to release the first batch of 96 ambulances parked at the State House in Accra for months awaiting the arrival of 176 others before distribution to all 275 constituencies for political expediency.

Whereas the Minister for Special Initiatives and Development claims the ambulances are waiting to be installed with trackers before distribution, President Akufo Addo at a recent media encounter said he halted the distribution to ensure the arrival of the rest of the fleet for even distribution to avoid accusation of discrimination.

Th Eastern region is notorious for high rate of road accidents. A total of 722 accident cases were recorded in the region from January to October this year. Out of this 1062 were as a result of vehicle crashes, 188 knockdowns, 228 were reported dead with 1,288 injuries.