Miraculous Escape: President Unhurtin Horrific Accident(Front Page) 15/11/2007

Story:Nehemia Owusu Achiaw & Michael Donkor
President Kufuor yesterday escaped unhurt when a black Mercedes Benz car rammed into his convoy and crashed into his car, causing it to somersault three times on one of the busiest streets in Accra.
Eyewitnesses said when the President’s car came to a stop after the crash, anxious by-standers rushed to the badly damaged vehicle and helped in the rescue mission.
President Kufuor was helped out of the wreckage by the crowd and whisked away in another vehicle by members of his security detail.
Initial test on the driver of the other vehicle, Thomas Osei, showed a level of 1.8 acl above the 0.008 permitted level of alcohol at the time of the crash. He is among the injured on admission at the 37 Military Hospital.
Within minutes of the crash and away from the accident scene, the President was narrating his experience to the Castle Press Corps during which he attributed his escape to the grace of God.
“I thank God that l remain a whole piece,” President Kufuor told a section of the Presidential Press Corps at the Castle, after the accident which occurred at the intersection close to the Silver Star Tower near the Airport.
“I did not feel any pain. l am in good health and l should think that l am okay,” he added.
Giving a brief account of how he saw the accident, President Kufuor said he was on his way from his private residence at the Airport Residential Area to the office at the Castle when the accident occurred.
What appeared to be a normal drive to work turned out to be a terrifying spectacle. President Kufuor said when all traffic had been stopped to make way for his convoy, he suddenly saw the on-rushing Mercedez Benz car in a flash and in no time the car slammed into his official vehicle.
He said his car then turned to the left from its lane into the opposite lane and virtually capsized.
With the assistance of some good Samaritans, the vehicle was turned to stand on its wheels and the door forced open before he could come out.
According to an eyewitness, Mr Peter Kuebutor, who helped in opening the President's car door for him to be taken out by the volunteers, Mr Kufuor did not sustain any cut or bruises but his driver sustained a knee injury and was rushed to the 37 Military Hospital.
He said Osei, who sustained some injury on his forehead and around his mouth , was also rushed to the 37 Military Hospital.
Mr Kuebutor said he was standing in front of the Stanbic Bank building waiting to cross the road to the other side when he saw the Mercedes Benz car drive into the convoy.
He said he then saw the President's car somersault on the road, landing on a VW Golf car with registration number GW 8750X, damaging the windscreen and the driver’s door and the passenger side of the Golf car.
He said the Mercedes Benz car was coming from the Aviance road to join the intercession but failed to stop, although the convoy horns were blaring out and lights giving strong signals.
He said the President's driver attempted to drive on after it had landed on its one side but could not move, so he ,together with some onlookers, rushed to help open the door for the President to be taken out of the car.
When the Daily Graphic team got to the scene, hundreds of people had gathered there to catch a glimpse of the President but he had already been taken away.
Some parts of the damaged cars were found lying on the street while policemen on the scene were busily directing traffic.
Later, the Minister of Defence, Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, the Deputy Minister of Defence, Mr William Ofori Boafo and the Chief of the Defence Staff, Lt. Gen. J.B. Danquah, visited the injured at the 37 Military Hospital.
They were led to the Accident and Emergency wards where they were told that the injured had been taken away for X-ray.
The team followed up to the X-ray Department where the President's driver was spotted in a wheelchair while Osei laid on a bench ready for an X-ray.
There was heavy security presence in and around the department where the injured were being treated.
Plain clothes security men wielding guns had positioned themselves at vantage points of the hospital to ensure that adequate security was given to the injured.
They assured the injured that they were in safe hands and that they would be given proper care.
Osei told the visiting team that he was a contractor working with Pure Construction Company Limited in Accra.
He said it was not a deliberate attempt on his part to drive into the President's convoy.
Since 2001, the Presidential convoy has been involved in more than six accidents, resulting in the death of more than five security personnel and injury to others.
After the accident and initial examination by medical doctors, the President continued with his normal official work at the Castle, receiving two delegations from Wassa Fiase in the Western Region and Birim in the Eastern Region.
The delegation from Wassa Fiase, led by Osagyefo Kwamina Enimil VI, was at the Castle to thank the President for ensuring the construction of the Agona Junction-Tarkwa road, upgrading of the Tarkwa School of Mines into a university, the elevation of Tarkwa into a municipality and for creating a new district in the Bogoso area.
The delegation from Birim was also at the Castle to thank the President for appointing Mrs Esther Obeng Dapaah as Minister of Lands, Mines and Forestry and for the creation of the Birim North District.
President Kufuor said the government had worked so hard to turn the fortunes of the country and was hopeful that with the discovery of oil, production of cocoa and general development, the future of the country was brighter.