Drama unfolded at the Takoradi Hospital on Wednesday afternoon when a middle-aged man wielding a sharp machete stormed the Accident and Emergency Ward shouting and ordering all patients, nurses and doctors of the ward to vacate the premises.
The action of the man, believed to be mentally deranged, put fear in everybody and they ran for their dear lives, some taking refuge in bathhouses, toilets and in cars.
For almost 30 minutes, the man was still brandishing the machete and patients and onlookers shouted “Call the police, call the police”.
A young man, Yaw Davis, who is a cobbler at the hospital, mustered the courage and confronted the man with a wooden pestle.
This inspired others to join him to give the man a hot chase amidst shouts of “coward…coward…coward”.
The Takoradi Port Police patrol team came to the scene about 10 minutes later and were briefed about the incident.
They asked Yaw Davis, the hero on the day, to assist them to identify the man and he was eventually arrested along the road leading to the Takoradi Ports with the machete.
Inspector Theodore Alhassan appealed to the public to always join forces to apprehend mentally deraged persons who might confront them in their vicinities with dangerous weapons before harm is caused.