Dozens sustain injuries in double accident
Fire Commander urges police to investigate drives abuse of substances
The Winneba Municipal Commander of the Ghana National Fire Service, DOIII Kwesi Hughes has outlined the use of Indian hemp-laced toffees by some drivers as one of the contributory factors to accidents recorded on the Cape Coast-Accra highway.
Two separate accidents which caused injury to some 46 passengers were recorded on the Cape Coast-Accra highway over the weekend.
DOIII Kwasi Hughes, according to a 3news.com report stated in an interview that, the abuse of enhancement substances by the drivers plying the stretch is a dominant contributory factor to the high rate of accidents recorded on the highway.
According to him, the abuse of substances such as toffees laced with Indian hemp (wee) causes the drivers to be high and unable to quickly respond to emergencies.
“The drivers of this sprinter buses take in substances
“So their blood is hot. They take in wee toffee, the police can go underground and do investigations to check,” he said.
He explained that, “when they sit behind the wheels, they are just chasing money”.
“A sprinter can overtake 15 cars at a go. Look, I have been using this stretch on a daily or weekly basis and what I sometimes see, it is very bad,” he added.
In the accidents that occurred on the Cape Coast-Accra highway over the weekend, 20 of the passengers said to have suffered critical injuries were rushed to a hospital for treatment while 26 others were also taken to the Winneba Trauma and Specialist Hospital for treatment.
One of the accidents occurred at Gomoa Mpota while the other happened at Gomoa Mankessim in the Central Region.
According to the police, the five vehicles involved in the accidents include two Sprinter Benz buses.
The accident at Gomoa Mpota involved three vehicles including a Sprinter Benz bus, a KIA Rhino and a DAF Trailer while the accident at Gomoa Mankessim involved a Sprinter Benz Bus with registration number GN-2572-10 which burst its tyres and somersaulted in the process during a trip from Cape Coast to Accra.
File photo of fire officers attending to an accident scene