Ebony’s Driver Blames Sprinter Bus

Driver of the vehicle which crashed and killed popular musician Ebony Reigns and two of her friends last Thursday has said should not be blamed for the accident but rather the driver of a Sprinter Bus that veered into his lane.

“The Sprinter Bus was doing an overtaking and veered into my lane so I had to swerve. There was a heap of sand on the road and my only option was to climb the heap of sand so that the Sprinter Bus can pass. The bus was overtaking and had its full highlights on so I swerved it and climbed the heap of sand”, Ebony’s driver, 29-year old driver, Chartey Oko Pinehad, spoke with Adom TV from his hospital bed at the Bechem Government Hospital.

Dr. Agyei Darkuah of the Bechem Government Hospital said Pinehad, Ebony’s driver was rushed to the hospital with a cut beneath his chin but he is responding very well to treatment and in a stable condition.

The narration from Ebony’s driver is slightly different from what the Police investigative team has said about the same accident.

An official report from the Ghana Police Service, on Friday did not mention a Sprinter Bus at all.

The report said the Jeep in which Ebony was, collided with an oncoming VIP bus, when Ebony’s driver attempted to avoid a heap of sand in their lane.

The sand, according to the police, was meant for the maintenance of the road. The report did not state why the road contractor did not consider the fact that dumping a heap of sand on such a busy and dark road, would be exposing drivers to grave danger.

Below is the full report from the Ghana Police Service:

On 08/02/2018, at about 23:45 hours, suspect driver Chartey Oko Pinehad, aged 29, was driving Jeep No. AS497-16 from Sunyani to Accra with three occupants on board, whilst suspect driver Mohammed Abubakar aged 48 years, was also driving KIA Grad Bird [VIP] bus with registration No. GT 3232-17 from Accra to Sunyani with a set of passengers on board.

On reaching a section of the road between Nyamebekyere and Nsuta, there was a heap of sand in the lane of the Jeep which was being used for the road maintenance, and the driver in trying to avoid running into the sand, swerved onto the opposite lane and grazed the nearside portion of the bus and plunged into the railings at the edge of the road, killing the three other occupants identified as Francisca Nkansah Kuri aged 27 years, Priscilla Opoku Kwarteng [Ebony], and Lance Corporal Vondee Francis Atsu, aged 29 years.

The driver sustained injuries and was rushed to Bechem Government hospital for treatment. The occupants on board the bus escaped unhurt.

Bodies conveyed and deposited at Bechem government hospital mortuary for preservation and autopsy. Accident vehicle impounded at the station. Suspect driver on enquiry bail.

VIP Transport Issues Statement

The VIP Transport Service, over the weekend issued a statement on the development to express the company’s condolence and give an assurance it is ready to co-oporate with the Police Service for an y investigation into the cause of accident.

“Management wishes to express its deepest condolences to the bereaved families of the individuals who lost their lives in the accident. The pain and anguish that their families must be going through clearly is unimaginable. We are cooperating fully with the police in their investigations and expect that the full facts of the circumstances of the accident will be made public in early course.

“We wish to assure the general public that we remain committed to high and rigorous training standards for our drivers, to the safety of our buses, and to the safety and comfort of all our passengers,” the statement from VIP noted.