Tema (Greater Accra) 10 June, ’98 A fuel tanker carrying 27,000 litres of diesel overturned at a roundabout on the Tema harbour road spilling its cargo into nearby bushes and drains. Mr Adam Bukari, the driver of the tanker, with registration number GT 2171 D, and his mate Mr Asuah Nyandor, who escaped unhurt, said the accident was caused by brake failure.
Personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service and the Tema Oil Refinery fire unit rushed to the scene and prevented a possible fire outbreak. Police cordoned off one lane of the road to vehicular traffic but had difficulty in controlling residents nearby who ignored warning from the fire service personnel and rushed with buckets and other containers to cllect the fuel.
Mr Bukari told the press that he loaded the fuel, consigned to Mobil Oil Ghana Limited, from the Accra plains depot and was on his way to the refinery for a waybill when on reaching the Ghana Textile Printing Company (GTP) roundabout his vehicle’s brake failed and had to veer off the road to avoid colliding with other vehicles and some cleaners on the road.
Mr Bukari called on oil companies to set up offices at the Accra plains depot of the refinery to save tanker drivers the trouble of always driving to the refinery for way bills. Meanwhile other tanker drivers who gathered at the scene of the accident have called on the government to take another look at the design of the road and see how best to avoid the frequent accidents involding long vehicles at the roundabouts. gri
