THREE trainees in the use of combine harvesters died in a road accident on the Tamale-Bolgatanga Highway yesterday when a vehicle on which they were travelling skidded off the road and crashed into a tree.
The deceased were returning from Tamale where they had undergone training on how to operate combine harvesters meant to assist in the harvesting of rice in the Fumbisi and Gbedembilisi rice valleys.
Details of the accident were very sketchy, according to the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo, who briefed the Daily Graphic on the incident.
He consoled the bereaved families for the loss of their relatives and said the accident could also affect the early harvesting of mature rice which was still standing in the fields.
Mr Woyongo said already, some combine harvesters had been allocated to the region to support the harvesting of the rice in the valleys, while efforts were underway to get crawler combine harvesters capable of operating in soggy fields to join in the effort.
He pointed out that the death of the three operators of the machines was a big blow to the farmers.
It would be recalled that following a visit to the rice farms in the Gbedembilisi Valley, near Fumbisi in the Builsa District of the Upper East Region, the Upper East Regional Minister appealed to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to ensure that the crawler combine harvesters were brought in quickly to assist in the harvesting of mature rice in the farms.
The training of the operators ahead of the dispatch of the machine was seen as a first step towards addressing the situation and their death is considered a big blow to the efforts at salvaging the situation.
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