Roads and Highways Minister, Kwasi Amoako Atta ordered the temporary measure for routine maintenance ahead of the Christmas.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Tc4WrfDhv5xbDBk9HhmVDnr9k0Du3UpS”]The Minister earlier in a Citi News interview posited that the two bridges were near collapse, hence the closure.

He estimated that the rehabilitation works would last for four weeks, and proposed that motorists should use the Eastern Corridor, Fufulso-Sawla and Central routes as alternatives.

Since the closure, motorists from the Sahel and Northern and Upper East Regions have been stranded at the bridges site due to the long hours they have to spend waiting to cross.

Passengers in long vehicles are compelled to get down and walk across the bridge to continue the journey in standby buses at the other end.

Commercial transport service providers including the VVIP, are compelled to use the Salaga-Makango Ferry through Yeji to connect to the southern part of the country.

Transporters of perishable farm produce to the south are in bad business because of the number of days they spend on the road.

They have therefore pleaded with government to fast track the rehabilitation works.

The two main bridges connect Ghana to neighboring countries including Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Togo.   The proper construction of the Daboya bridge along that of Buipe and Yapei, will begin in 2018.

According to the Minister Roads and Highways, each of the three new bridges is estimated at 25 million US dollars each.

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Buipe, Yapei bridge closure: Cars stranded, passengers journey on foot appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

At least 27 people – including three babies – suffered major injuries including suspected broken bones in the carnage which happened en route from Moscow to Bangkok.

Dramatic video shows passengers lying injured in the aisle after they were hurled up to the ceiling.

The babies were thrown out of their mothers’ arms by the force of the severe turbulence one hour before landing in Bangkok, said a source.

People walking in the aisle and without seat belts on were injured.

Luggage as well as food and drink from the trolleys was strewn all over the cabin.

A source said 19 people were hospitalised in Bangkok, with two undergoing urgent surgery.

Others were treated with first aid after the incident on board flight SU 270.

A source told Interfax: ‘A Boeing 777 plane suddenly got into the zone of strong turbulence before starting to descend.

‘There had been no order to fasten seat belts at that moment.

‘As a result, the plane was jolted by hundreds of metres, and some passengers were thrown into the space between the chairs suffering traumas.’

The Russian embassy is providing assistance to the injured passengers.

Aeroflot later said that none of the passengers suffered serious spinal injuries, despite earlier reports.

However, 17 remained in hospital with ‘contusions’ and ‘fractured or broken bones’.

The airline agreed to pay all medical costs of the injured.

The airline said: ‘An experienced crew piloted the flight.

‘The pilot has more than 23 thousand flight hours, and the co-pilot has over 10,500 flight hours.

‘However, the turbulence that hit the Boeing 777 was impossible to foresee.

‘The incident was caused by what is known in aviation as ‘clear-air turbulence’.

‘Such turbulence occurs without any clouds, in clear skies with good visibility, and weather radar is unable to alert of its approach. In such situations, the crew is unable to warn passengers of the need to return to their seats.’

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Source: Daily Mail

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[contextly_sidebar id=”Y3jbUwDhr1SooZMGdFcn64E3Av2QMnE0″]The low patronage has been attributed to the ongoing funeral of the late Asantehemaa which commenced today [Monday].

The development has left scores of passengers at the VVIP bus stations in Accra heading to Kumasi stranded.

Long winding queues of passengers were seen at the various VVIP stations at Circle at the time Citi Business News visited the bus terminals.

The queues were only present at the Accra-Kumasi route.

Passengers who spoke to Citi Business News said they had been waiting in the queue since morning.

“I can’t really explain it myself, the queue is quite long, It’s longer than usual and I think we can relate it to the funeral of the Asantehemaa. Majority of people want to go to Kumasi for the funeral so that is probably causing the unexpected number we are seeing here,” a stranded passenger said.

Meanwhile, a passenger who was waiting for a bus to attend the funeral in Kumasi also told Citi Business News that,“The shortage of the buses is as a result of the funeral. Everybody wants to go including those of us here. There are no buses available but I know that we will definitely go.”

Most bus drivers have been forced to ditch the route due to the low patronage of passengers from Kumasi to Accra.

“The problem is that, most of the cars are in Kumasi and according to them, there are no passengers in Kumasi so all the buses are locked up there because of the funeral and it seems like nobody is coming to Accra, so that’s why there are long queues here.” a manager at the VVIP station stated.

Another instructor said “People are just not coming. I don’t know if there’s a curfew, there but the people are just not coming so the buses are coming empty to pick the passengers from Accra.”

Meanwhile officials say the situation is expected to be return to normal in a few hours.

“There are five buses coming empty as we speak, they are on the way so passengers will soon be out of here”.

Business boom for others

It appears however that the fashion industry is recording some gains following the funeral rites of the late queen-mother.

Citi Business News checks reveal sale of black cloth in the Ashanti Region, specifically Kumasi, has picked up tremendously.

Some traders who spoke to Citi Business News say they intend to cash in heavily following the development.

“People are really purchasing the cloth. Six yards goes for GHc90, and one yard for GHc15, they are available in red and black, white and black, yellow and brown. People are purchasing all the colors; but the one in brown are limited as compared to the other colors.”

Another trader confirmed the boost, saying “For the clothes, we have them in red yellow and white; and sales are really good because everybody wants to purchase some. We will not run out of the cloth because we made them after the news of her death and everybody wants to buy it,” she added.

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By: Jessica Ayorkor Aryee/Anita Arthur/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Kumasi bound passengers stranded over Asantehemaa’s funeral appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.