Offinso-Abofour Accident: Chaos at hospital morgue over ‘cash for corpse’

Chaos erupted when some family members besieged the St. Patrick’s Hospital morgue to demand bodies of their relatives who died in an accident on Monday, November 2.

The accident occured following a head-on collision between a Kumasi-bound articulated vehicle which veered off its lane and a sprinter bus which was heading towards the Savanna Region.

Workers at the St Patrick’s Hospital morgue however had a tough time on Tuesday, controlling a charged crowd after hospital authorities demanded some amounts before the bodies were released to their families.

“They said we should pay ¢7,200 before the bodies would be released and we don’t have such an amount. I have told my parents not to pay a dime”, a voice is heard in the video as some were seen forcing their way into the morgue as an officer tries to stop them.

Dailymailgh.com understands the bodies were later released after some interventions. A mass burial was later held at Offinso for 16 victims according to Islamic customs.

Death toll now 20

Meanwhile the Ghana Police Service has confirmed that three more people have perished sending the death toll to 20.

Seventeen people died on the spot while 16 others were receiving treatment at various health facilities within the Offinso enclave.

“Unfortunately, we lost three more victims. The driver of the sprinter bus as we are well aware died on the spot. The driver of the articulated truck, however, was severely injured, per my checks this morning, he has been transferred from the St. Patrick’s Hospital in Offinso to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital,” the Offinso Divisional MTTD Commander, DSP Edmund Nyamekye, told Accra-based Citi FM.

Accidents are common on the Offinso-Techiman stretch which connects Ghana to other neighbouring countries to the North.

Indiscipline on major highways has often been blamed as cause of these carnages.

SOURCE: DAILY MAIL GH