The sudden demise of talented singer Ebony has been one that has put the entire nation into a state of total shock.
Ebony died on 8 February 2018, returning from Sunyani to Accra after a visit. She was involved in a car accident and died at the Bechem Government Hospital, one week prior to her 21st birthday.
As you have heard in our previous reports, Ebony was not alone when the accident occurred. There were two other passengers including a uniformed military officer on board the jeep.
We have an eye witness report about how the accident that took the life of the late Ebony Reigns occurred on the night of February 8,2018.
Read the post below unedited as shared by Owusu Bernard, who was a passenger on the VIP bus that collided with Ebony’s Jeep
It was around 10:24pm when I heard our VIP bus with registration number GT 3273 -17 shouting in a local dialect “Nkwasiasem ben na driver yi redi yi? meaning what kind of a foolish thing is this driver doing after he saw him overspeeding and missing his lane driving into ours.
The driver of the Jeep was driving on top speed from Sunyani to Kumasi,upon reaching Mankranso junction,he came face to face with the chippings on the road,there was a heap of chippings which I’m told has been there for something now due to the slow pace at which the contractor is repairing the road with.
He veered of his lane ie from sunyani to Kumasi road into that of the bus ie Kumasi to Sunyani road in order to dodge the heap of chippings and that was where our driver made such pronouncement I stated earlier. The VIP bus driver saw the impending danger and decided to leave our lane and give space for the Jeep to pass to avoid collision. Things didn’t go well for Ebony’s driver as there’s a big pothole ‘that almost covers the full stretch of the road’ which his car run into and lost the right front tyre due to the kind of speed he was driving at. At this point the Jeep bumped from the pothole and collided to the passenger side of the VIP bus.
The Jeep summersaults into the bush glory be to God the bus driver keeps a stiff hold of the steering until he stops by the side of the road at Mankranso to prevent us also from crashing. The screen of the VIP clashes, springs into the bus and gives some bruises on face of the conductor. I had a little cut on my left foot as well.
We managed to get out of our bus and run to the rescue of the passengers in the Jeep. With the help of two ropes we turned it over onto its wheels and found only 3(THREE) BODIES IN THE CAR. A SOLDIER IN A UNIFORM AT THE FRONT, TWO FEMALES AT THE BACK AND NO DRIVER. AND I REPEAT “NO DRIVER” IN THE CAR.
We assume he might be in the bush so let’s look for him with help of touchlights. I heard someone saying is this the bus driver,when he saw a man bleeding by the side of the road. We approached him and asked are you the Jeep driver?he answered yes and he was on his feet when we saw him. As to how he got out of the car,none of us who were there to do the rescue knows about it and only the surviving Driver can tell. NOTE: THATS IS AN IMPORTANT QUESTION TO ASK AS TERRY BONCHAKA,SUZZY WILLIAMS ALL HAD SURVIVING DRIVERS.
I told Ebony’s driver to lye on the road so he slows down bleeding,he did and many questions started coming from unlookers but answers were not forthcoming so with secured a car to take him to the hospital.He couldn’t tell us Ebony was in the car. Various calls were made to the fire service,police and ambulance for help and they came EF. Till then none of us knew who those three dead passengers were even as I touched thier pulse to check if I could find them alive.
Few minutes after the police and the other rescue team arrived,two big trucks drove into each other at the same accident scene we were standing. This will be around 12am in the morning. We had to run for shelter as it wasn’t safe there anymore.
A VIP bus came from Sunyani to pick us and the amusing part was that this bus is the same bus that sold my seat to another passenger for GHC70 instead of GHC50 after I had told the conductor I was going to the washroom.
CAUSES OF THE ACCIDENT
1. NEGLIGENCE OF THE CONTRACTOR WHO LEFT A HEEP OF CHIPPINGS ON THE ROAD.
2. OVERSPEEDING BY THE JEEP DRIVER.
3. WHO EVER SHOULD HAVE CHECKED TO MAKE SURE THE CONTRACTOR DOES HIS WORK SO THERE WOULD BE NO POTHOLES ON THE ROAD IS TO BE BLAMED.
NOTE;
1. WITHOUT THE POTHOLE,EBONY WOULD STILL BE ALIVE AS THE VIP DRIVER GAVE THEM ACCESS TO HIS LANE WHEN HE DROVE TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD.
2. IF THE JEEP DRIVER WAS ON A LOWER SPEED HE COULD HAVE SAVED ALL THE LOST LIVES NOT ONLY HIS. OVERSPEEDING KILLS.