Tetrem Village, near Offinso, was on Monday thrown into mourning as hundreds of people trooped to the Tetrem D.A. Primary and Junior High School park to pay their ;last respects to eight of the 16 people who died in Sunday’s accident on the River Offin bridge at Amoako, near Offinso, before they were given a mass burial. The eight included the chief of the community, Alhaji Zakari Abubakr, 88, and his wife, Zenatu Zakari, 55, who incidentally were grandparents of the 23-year-old driver of the vehicle, Sakim Yakubu. Others are the driver’s sister, Maatamaba Issachar, 27, her husband, Aliu Issachar, alias Coach, 38, and their three-year-old son, Bashiru Aliu. The rest are Issachar Wanzam,92 father of Aliu Issachar, the Imam’s representative in the village, Laadan Haruna Idriss, and Aminatu, a resident of Zongo. One more body, (female) was retrieved from the river on Monday by a search party. Meanwhile, three passengers who were seriously injured during the accident, are said to be in stable condition at the St Patrick’s Hospital and may be discharged sometime this week. Some residents of Tetrem blamed the accident on the narrow nature of the bridge. However, ASP Daniel Anane Amoah, District Police Commander, although admitting that the bridge is narrow, pointed out that "the accident was 85 per cent human error". He said that even from the point where the driver realised that his brakes were faulty, he could have branched to either side of the road which was bushy to avoid an accident. He said the driver is in police custody helping in investigations. The Offinso Municipal Chief Executive, Fred Amponsah and the Afigya-Kwabre District Chief Executive, Akwasi Karikari Achamfuor, in separate interviews with the Times, bemoaned the careless and irresponsible attitude of some drivers. Mr Amponsah advised drivers to be careful when driving since their carelessness could endanger many lives. Achamfuor said the Assembly in conjunction with the police, would soon start refresher courses for drivers in the district. Nana Sei Kwamena II, chief of Tetrem, described the accident as horrible and said "it is a lesson for us all to be careful when driving." Source: Times