A 36-year old head potter, popularly known as Kayayo, met her untimely death when she attempted to bypass a long DAF articulated truck, carrying a 40 footer container, at Okaishie in the Accra Central Business District yesterday.
The deceased identified as Hassana Abdulai, a six months old nursing mother, was ran over by the truck with registration number GT 6208 W driven by Karim Sumaila.
An eyewitness account indicated that the deceased, who was carrying some goods, hurriedly bypassed the moving truck but her dress was trapped by a metallic hook at the back side of the vehicle making her to fall under the vehicle.
The driver who was then not watching also ran over the victim?s head in the process killing her instantly.
Briefing the Daily Guide on the accident, ASP Sulemana Sulley Jnr, Operational Officer of the National Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (N/MTTU), said the police were called to the scene around 11:50am yesterday.
?One of our men on duty at UTC reported at the office that a head potter had been knocked down by a vehicle in the middle of the road,? the ASP said.
When police proceeded to the scene, he noted, some of the traders had already covered the body with polythene bags.
The body was immediately removed from the road and transported to the Police Hospital morgue to ease the huge vehicular traffic that had occurred as a result of the accident.
Preliminary investigation indicated that Hassana, the deceased, bypassed the moving vehicle while carrying load, but was trapped by a hook on the back of the vehicle.
The victim was wearing a long skirt so one of the metals at the back of the vehicle trapped her and pulled her under the vehicle in the process.
Driver of the vehicle according to our information did not notice that he had run over a person until he was stopped.
The driver upon realising that he had killed a person varnished from the area to avoid being lynched but later handed himself over to the police.
Meanwhile, Karim Sumailla , the driver of the DAF truck, told the paper that the accident occurred after he had discharged some goods at Arena and was returning to Tema.
The driver said he did not notice that he had run over a person since he was not speeding in the first place.
Some traders, who also spoke to the paper, expressed worry about the way some of the head potters crossed the roads indiscriminately and not regarding vehicles that ply the roads or persons who walked past them.
Maame Yaa, also a trader, said the ?kayayei? used the roads anyhow they wanted without regard to persons or vehicles, behaving as though they were in charge of the road.
She said many were sometimes knocked down by vehicles anytime they crossed the road due to their negligence and recklessness.
She urged the head potters to exercise constraint and go about their business with care.
By Linda Tenyah
