'3 Children died of suffocation'

Front Page: Daily Graphic, March 23, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
POST-Mortem results on the three children who were found dead in a KIA Sportage vehicle, with registration number GR 7755 R, at Anyaa, a suburb of Accra, on February 4, 2009 indicate that the kids died from asphyxia (suffocation).
Richard Bonna, Jackson Nti and Kwaw Frimpong were found dead in the vehicle, which was parked at an abandoned fitting workshop.
The post-mortem was conducted by Dr Marcia Maria Cruz of the Police Hospital on February 9, 2009.
The verbal result of the post-mortem on the three kids who also died under similar circumstances at Alogboshie, near Achimota, on February 22, 2009 also showed that they died from causes consistent with heat stroke.
The pathologist, Dr L. Adusei of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is, however, awaiting toxicology examination results from the Ghana Standards Board before writing a full report on the cause of the death of Gabriel Kwofie, his cousin, Edem Asimenu, and their friend, Isaac Annoh, who were found dead in an abandoned car, with registration number GR 3656 R, parked in the house of one of their neighbours.
The Director of Public Affairs of the Ghana Police Service, DSP Kwesi Ofori, told the Daily Graphic that the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) was doing everything possible to conclude its investigations.
He discounted rumours that the death of children started this year.
According to him, a similar incident happened in Kumasi on March 5, 2008 in which two kids, Fatao Issaka and Kausa Alhassan, died in a taxi, with registration number GT 5488 S.
He said although the bodies of those two children were removed from the taxi and dumped 20 metres away from the taxi, investigations later revealed that the children had died in the car, as finger impressions of the children matched what were in the car.
“A careful examination of the cab revealed some fresh finger impressions on the driver’s door and on both sides of the front glasses. A further careful examination of the impressions indicated to us (police) that they were those of children and, probably, of the two kids,” he said.
DSP Ofori said investigations into such matters took time and, therefore, appealed for public co-operation and support.