Sirleaf Identifies with Injured Indian Diplomats

MONROVIA – Arriving from Addis Ababa on Thursday, February 4, where she attended the 14th Summit of the African Union, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf faced the sad news of a tragic motor accident that involved an Indian dignitary visiting Liberia.

The Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, Hon. Vayalar Ravi, was seriously injured in an accident on Robertsfield Highway when a taxi hit the car in which he was riding.

India’s Ambassador to Liberia, H.E. Shama Jain, who was accompanying the Minister on his visit to Liberia, was also seriously injured, and both had to be airlifted to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, for medical treatment.

From Robertsfield International Airport, the presidential motorcade drove to Spriggs Payne Airfield where the evacuation was taking place.

Speaking to the injured diplomats, Sirleaf expressed deep regret and wished them a speedy recovery. At the airport, the President also met with the head of John F. Kennedy Medical Center, Dr. Wannie McDonald-Scott, and the team of doctors who were instrumental in stabilizing the two injured diplomats.

After greeting young American volunteers currently working in Liberia, Sirleaf departed the airfield to meet with residents of Saye Town, who had lost their homes in a fire while she was away.

The President was greeted by a large crowd of residents who thanked her for the assistance extended to them by the government through the Liberian National Red Cross. She urged the displaced citizens to consider relocating into their respective counties where they would be provided with resettlement packages including land and building materials, rather than live in congested and unsafe dwellings in the city.