Death Trap Toll Booth Kills 1, Physically Challenged Attendant Sustains Serious Injuries

One of the toll-booth attendants on the Tema-Motorway has been killed, while a physically challenged attendant has been seriously injured in a gory accident on the motorway when a tipper truck rammed into the cubicle of the toll booth and pulverised it.

The incident occurred today Monday morning, July 12, 2021, with shocked users of the Motorway attempting to salvage the seriously injured at the scene.

The accident is coming at a time when critics have warned about the need to automate the toll booths to ensure accountability as well as avert possible danger posed to toll attendants as had happened today. 

Whatsup News gathered that some five other people were injured in the accident and have been rushed to the hospital.

A video of the crash shows the body of the attendant, who is yet to be identified, lying on the ground motionless, with his entire lower torso crushed.

In the video, the other attendant, who is visually and hearing impaired is seen being dragged out of the wreckage into waiting vehicles to transport him to the hospital. 

 “I was on the Spintex-Road side, but a few meters away from the toll booth, I saw the tipper driver rushing to the booth at the Tema side. The rate at which he was speeding showed that something was definitely going wrong. Either his brake had failed or he was an inexperienced driver. By the time we realized, he had run into the toll booth, killing the attendant,” an eyewitness told the media.

The Tema Regional Commander of the Police Motor Traffic and Transport Department, Chief Supt. William Asante is quoted as saying other vehicles had stopped to pay their tolls when the truck driver carelessly ran into the booth.

“This is the result we are witnessing now. It is a serious accident, but not fatal. Some people have sustained varying degrees of injuries and have been rushed to the Tema General Hospital”, he added.

Monday’s crash adds to more than 1,000 persons killed in road crashes from January to April 2021. The road accidents are attributed to both attitude of drivers as well as the poor investment the government had made into road construction in the past years.