Two final-year students of the Ekumfi Obidan-Potwabin Basic School in the Central Region have lost their lives after a speeding tipper truck crashed into them while they were returning home from school.
The accident occurred on Tuesday afternoon in the Ekumfi District when three students were knocked down after attending voluntary classes organised by the school.
One of the students died at the scene from the impact, while another was pronounced dead upon arrival at the Roman Catholic Hospital in Mankessim, where the victims had been taken for emergency treatment.
The third student sustained severe injuries and remains in critical condition at the hospital.
The three students were among final-year candidates who had been attending voluntary lessons arranged by the school authorities during the ongoing nationwide teachers’ strike.
The initiative was intended to keep the students engaged academically, allowing them to make up for lost instructional time and prepare for their final examinations despite the disruption caused by the strike.
However, tragedy struck as the students made their way home after the day’s classes. The tipper truck, which witnesses reportedly said was travelling at high speed, hit the students.
Confirming the incident to MyJoyOnline.com, the Deputy Chairman of the School Management Board, Emmanuel Ekow Arthur, said the school community has been thrown into a state of shock and mourning following the untimely deaths.
He explained that the school had taken the initiative to organize voluntary lessons for the final-year students to ensure they do not fall behind academically as a result of the nationwide strike action by teachers.
Mr. Arthur described their deaths as a big loss not only to their families but to the entire Obidan-Potwabin community.
The deaths have left parents, teachers and residents deeply distressed, while also renewing concerns about the safety of pedestrians and schoolchildren along roads in the community.
Residents say tipper trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles regularly pass through the town at high speeds, creating serious risks for children and other road users.
They are therefore calling on the Ekumfi District Assembly, the Ghana Police Service and the National Road Safety Authority to take urgent measures to prevent similar incidents.
Among the measures being demanded are the installation of speed ramps and appropriate road signs, as well as stricter enforcement of traffic regulations, particularly around areas where children regularly walk to and from school.
The bodies of the two deceased students have since been deposited at the morgue.
The police have also begun investigations into the circumstances surrounding the crash. It remains unclear whether the driver of the tipper truck has been arrested.
Police personnel are said to be at the scene as investigations continue.
Meanwhile, teaching and learning at the Ekumfi Obidan-Potwabin Basic School have been temporarily disrupted as students and teachers struggle to process the sudden loss of their colleagues.
The tragedy has also cast a shadow over the voluntary classes that were intended to help final-year students remain academically prepared during the nationwide teachers’ strike.
