Police arrest 4 more suspects over train accident

Four more persons have been picked up by the police for their alleged roles in last week’s train accident at Abortia, in the Volta Region.

They are Kokou Koudjo, a 34-year-old gas welder, Patrick Kwaku Sosu, a 52-year-old labourer, Alaza Prosper, a 28-year-old labourer and Fiadugbe Emmnauel, a 31-year-old labourer.

The four accused persons have been charged with “abetment of unlawful damage”.

They are alleged to have aided Abel Adzidotor, the driver of the truck, which caused unlawful damage to a Diesel Multiple Unit train.

The High Court, presided over by Justice Mrs Lydia Osei-Marfo did not take their pleas and remanded them into police custody, pending further investigations into the matter.

The prosecution, led by Christabel Selma Anafure, Assistant State Attorney, prayed the court not to take the pleas of the accused persons as investigations were underway.

ASA Anafure asked the court to remand them into police custody and grant them a short adjournment.

The court obliged the prosecution’s prayer and asked the accused persons to secure lawyers of their choice, by the next adjourned date.

Facts

The facts as read out in court are that the complainant is Dr Divine Olutey, an Engineer of the Ghana Railway Corporation.

The prosecution said on April 18, 2024 between 09:00 hours and 13:00 hours, the accused persons were on board a Hyundai Gold Truck with registration number GS 9018-20, driven by Dzidotor Abel (now a convict).

The prosecution said preliminary investigations revealed that Koujo, the first accused person, bought some blocks from a block factory at Juapong and conveyed same to Abortia, using the underpass of the railway lines.

The court heard that the convict was in the car with the four accused persons.

After discharging the blocks at Kouko’s site, the prosecution said they decided to avoid the under bridge and cross the railway lines with the vehicle.

According to the prosecution, the four accused persons, being fully aware that the railway lines were inaccessible to motor vehicles, still decided to use the railway lines as a “shortcut” to get to Juapong.

The prosecution said when they arrived at the railway lines, they realised that it was impossible to cross over the railway track, hence they decided to place stones on the railway lines to serve as a path for the truck to cross over.

However, the prosecution said the truck still got stuck on the railway line.

The accused persons tilted the head of the truck and left the scene without providing any warning for trains playing the tracks.

The prosecution said investigations disclosed that there was no access route across the railway tracks connecting the Juapong road and that even if the truck had successfully crossed the railway, a big gutter on the Westside of the railway lines would have prevented the accused persons from connecting the Akuse-Juapong road.

The court was told that on the same day, the management of the Ghana Railway Corporation, led by the complainant and other 28 engineers from Ghana and Poland, embarked on a test run of the new Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) Train from Tema to Mpakadan.

“This test run had been announced ahead of time. When the train got to the Abortia area, it rammed into the Hyundai Gold Truck, which was stuck across the railway lines.

“Both the train and truck got damaged. The train was sent to Tema for examination while the scrap of the vehicle, which was damaged beyond repairs was taken to the Juapong Police Station for further action,” the prosecution said.

By Joyce Danso

GNA