Wild Hunt For Killer Driver

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    THE TAKORADI POLICE have launched a major manhunt for the driver of the articulated truck that ran over six school children in Kwesimintim, near Takoradi, killing two and a woman, on Thursday.
    According to Dela Dzansi, Takoradi District Police Commander, while the driver seems to have gone into hiding, the owner of the truck reported himself to the authorities and was assisting them in their investigations.
    The police command said it was able to retrieve the documents of the vehicle and the driver’s licence when the truck was abandoned.
    The vehicle was said to have carted cocoa from Kumasi to the Takoradi port and was going to Kwesimintim when it drove over the victims at a zebra crossing on the Kwesimitsim-Takoradi highway.
    Indications are that when arrested, he could be charged with reckless driving which has a minimum sentence of three years.
    Yesterday, hundreds of people in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis thronged the homes of the two kids of Agyiba International School who died on the spot.
    The usual hustle and bustle at the Takoradi Business District gave way to solemnity and quietness amidst mourning and wailing following the news of the accident.
    It has now been confirmed that three people died in the accident which included two kids from the school and a guardian and not five as earlier reported.
    Dr. Paul Nkwaw Ntodi, Medical Director of the Effia-Nkwanta Hospital, confirmed the death to journalists and gave the names of the deceased as 7-year-old Francis Pius Donkoh who was in class-three and 11-year-old Ewurakua Smith, a daughter of Coach Johnson Smith of Berekum Arsenals, who was also in class six at the school.
    He, however, indicated that the third deceased person, who was believed to be in her late 50s, was yet to be identified. In all, five persons, including the unidentified woman, were admitted at the hospital.
    The other four were Mercy Akrofi, 13 in JHS 1, Barbara Oforiwaa Eshun, 5, class one, Ann-Marie Donkoh and Melisah Donkor, 12 and 14 years respectively, whose younger brother Pius Donkoh died on the spot.
    According to the doctor, Ann-Marie Donkoh, who sustained minor injuries, had been treated and discharged, Melisah Donkoh whose injuries were serious, was at the theater, Mercy Akrofi was at the casualty ward while Barbara Oforiwaa Eshun was in a stable condition.
    When DAILY GUIDE visited the residence of Christian Donkor, whose three kids were victims, scores of people who had gone there to sympathize with the bereaved family were in tears.
    Among the people that thronged the houses of Mr. Donkoh, a staunch Catholic, was a delegation from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) led by its former national chairman, Peter Mac-Manu, who was there to sympathize with the bereaved family.
    Rev. Fr. Francis Jackson Ato-Donkoh, Rector of Spiritan Catholic University and spokesperson for the Donkoh family, noted that he was in Kumasi when he was informed around 3:30p.m about the incident.
    Rev. Fr. Donkoh, an elder brother of Christian Donkoh, said when he heard the sad story, he drove to Takoradi early Friday morning to sympathize with his brother.
    The situation at the residence of Johnson Smith, whose daughter, Ewurakua Smith, also died on the spot, was not different as most people became devastated when they heard the news.
    When DAILY GUIDE got to the house, a family spokesperson, Mr. Obosu, said the father of the late Ewurakua was at the Effia-Nkwanta Hospital morgue to prepare his daughter for burial while the mother, who fell unconscious following the tragedy, had been admitted at the hospital.
    Mr. Mac Manu, on behalf of the NPP, expressed his condolences to the bereaved families and said members of the party would continue to pray for them to be able to withstand the difficulties.
    He was accompanied by the First National Vice Chairperson of the NPP, Sophia Horner-Sam and Kwesi Biney, regional vice chairman.
    When DAILY GUIDE visited Agyiba International School yesterday, the proprietress was not around to give her comments and the headmistress was also tight-lipped on the issue.
    The Western Regional Minister, Paul Evans Aidoo, visited the three injured kids at the hospital and gave each of them GH¢200.
    From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi