Fifteen people, including nine schoolchildren, perished in two fatal motor accidents yesterday. In the first incident, nine schoolchildren died on the spot, while several others sustained serious injuries, when the mini-bus on which they were travelling ran into a ditch at the Benkyeman Barrier in the Juaboso District of the Western Region. The children, aged between eight and 13, were returning from an inter-zonal football competition at Sefwi Asawinso. The bus, which was supposed to carry 14 passengers, was said to be carrying 35 adults and children. At the moment, 23 of the injured, including teachers and 26-year-old Kofi Amoah, the driver of the bus, with registration number AS 9736 - 10, are on admission at the government hospitals at Sefwi Asafo and Juaboso. The bodies of the dead, including eight males and one female, have been deposited at the same hospitals. Some of the injured are said to be in critical condition but doctors are of the hope that they will pull through. The schoolchildren are from the Sefwi-Ahibenso SDA Pre-school in the Sefwi-Wiawso District. The Sefwi-Wiawso Divisional Police Commander, ACP Charles Oduro, told the Daily Graphic that the passengers on the mini-bus alleged that the driver had been speeding and that several attempts to get him to slow down failed. He explained that the competition had been going on for some time now and the children had been commuting between Ahibenso and the venue at Sefwi Asawinso. Investigations are ongoing. In the other incident, five persons died on the spot and one later at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) when a Metro Mass Transit (MMT) bus ran into a Blue Bird bus around Ahenkro, near Offinso in the Ashanti Region at 2 a.m. yesterday. The deceased included the driver of the MMT bus, who was identified as Haruna Abdul Karim. Nineteen injured passengers who were said to be in critical condition were rushed to the Accident and Emergency Unit of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) where they are currently receiving medical care. Five others were also rushed to the St Patrick Hospital at Offinso Maase, where they are said to be responding to treatment. The police are making the necessary effort to identify the deceased passengers and those who are on admission at KATH and the St Patrick Hospital. The Ashanti Regional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Police Service, Superintendent G.D. Hlordzi, who briefed the Daily Graphic, said the accident occurred around 2 a.m. on Tuesday when the Blue Bird bus, with registration number GR 5039 L, burst its right front tyre. He said after the bus burst its tyre, the driver, who was heading towards Tamale from Kumasi, managed to control the bus and succeeded in bringing it to a halt. The commander said just as the bus stopped, it crossed the road, blocking it in the process. He said as the passengers were alighting from the bus, they saw the MMT bus, with registration number AW 238 Z, travelling at a top speed from the direction of Techiman and signalled it to stop. But the driver ignored the signal, causing the bus to crash into the mid portion of the stationary Blue Bird bus. Supt Hlordzi said the impact of the crash was so great that four of the passengers in the Blue Bird bus died on the spot, with many more sustaining multiple degrees of injury. He said the driver of the MMT bus also died on the spot, while one other person died at the KATH. Source: Daily Graphic