A speeding driver reportedly knocked down a seven year-old juvenile beggar on the N4 highway, in front of the defunct Kumasi Children’s Park at Amakom, a suburb of Kumasi, on Easter Friday around 12noon.
Information available to The Chronicle suggests that the poor boy is one of the children from neighbouring countries who have been begging for money along the said stretch.
The victim, according to reliable sources, was rushed to the Anwiem Clinic at Afful Nkwanta, near Anloga junction, for medical attention.
When this reporter visited the hospital, he was told by Auntie Aggie, the matron, that owing to the severity of the injury, the boy, whose identity is still not known, had been referred to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) for intensive care.
According to the matron, the boy suffered lacerations on his arms and his mouth was also disfigured.
The matron further mentioned that the two legs of the boy were broken.
She expressed serious concern over why we allow children to beg on the streets and expose them to danger.
According to her, this is not the first time her health facility has received such a case and that it keeps occurring.
When The Chronicle visited the accident scene, a number of children were seen playing in the median of the road, with others chasing pedestrians for money, oblivious of the danger to them.
The supposed mothers of these kids were seen seated on the pavements, as they watched their kids play in the median of the busy stretch.
An iced water seller, who witnessed the accident, told The Chronicle that at about 12:12 pm on Good Friday, she heard a loud noise and when she turned to the direction where the noise came from, she realised that one of the boys begging for alms on the street had been knocked down by a vehicle.
According to her, as soon as the accident occurred, all the kids abandoned their begging business and left the scene. She added that they had to shout for the driver to stop, so he could rush the boy to Anwiem Clinic for attention.
