Cops, Firemen Throw Blows

The articulated trucks

DRAMA UNFOLDED at Elmina on the Elmina-Takoradi highway in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality of the Central Region on Saturday when police officers and Fire Service personnel put aside the ethics of their profession and exchanged blows after two articulated trucks crashed at Elmina junction.

The fight ensued when the officers were arguing over who was responsible for directing traffic, after the accident occurred.

This was because when the accident occurred, the KEEA Municipal Police did not respond to the urgent call to direct the heavy traffic so the firemen had to quench the fire while some residents helped in the traffic direction.

When DAILY GUIDE got to the accident scene at about 7.50 pm, one policeman by name Simon, dressed in a smock (fugu) with police reflectors, said he was ready to face the Fire personnel since he alleged one of the firemen had beaten up a superintendent.

An angry Simon, who could not control his temper, started raining insults on the firemen for almost an hour, compelling observers around to ask whether the police officer had really gone through the ethics of the profession.

Residents of the area who were not expecting the awful behaviour from the policemen started pleading with them to stop but they did not.

One of the firemen from the Regional Fire Service Command in a Tundra with registration number FS 306 was head-butted on the mouth by one of the police officers, compelling him to bleed profusely on the mouth.

DAILY GUIDE observed that the Fire Service personnel who could not stand the heavy blows from the police had no option but to leave peacefully for the police and other civilians to direct the traffic.

The civilians however hooted at the policemen for their incompetence and unprofessional conduct shown in the discharge of their duties.

The Elmina Police Command has been accused by residents of not responding early to calls on accidents and other cases.

The accident, according to an eyewitness, happened at about 7. 30 pm when two articulated trucks with registration numbers GN 2768-09 and 1579CV01 from Ivory Coast, heading towards Accra and Takoradi respectively, crashed.

The eyewitness hinted that the truck with registration number GN 2768-09, travelling from Takoradi, tried to swerve a taxi that was coming from Elmina town and heading towards Cape Coast, but unfortunately, it ran into another container truck heading to Takoradi.

It took the intervention of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) and the Regional Fire Service personnel, who assisted the Elmina branch of the Fire Service, to quench the fire.

DAILY GUIDE gathered at the scene that when the fire begun, the KEEA fire tender had no water to quench the fire.

No death was recorded but both drivers sustained various degrees of injury and were taken to the hospital for treatment.

From Desmond K. Dapaah, Elmina