Accra, Jan 13, GNA - The ambition of a middle-aged man to seek greener pastures in the US ended abruptly when he collapsed and died at the Consular Section of the Embassy in Accra just before he could go through the interviewing process at 10:00 hours on Thursday.
A press statement issued by the US Embassy in Accra and copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) explained that Doctors and Nurses at the Embassy used cardio-pulmonary resuscitation as well as a portable defibrillator in an attempt to revive him while organizing an ambulance to send him to the 37 Military Hospital.
The statement said the gentleman, who came to the Embassy in the company of family members, was pronounced dead on arrival at the 37 Military Hospital.
In an interview with GNA, Ms Susan Parker-Burns of the US Embassy Public Affairs Section explained that in consonance with Ghanaian tradition and custom, the Embassy would not disclose the name and other personal details of the deceased to the Media.
She, however, debunked Media speculations, especially on some local Radio Stations, that the man died after the Embassy had denied him US Visa.
Ms Parker-Burns said the man died just in front of the pigeonhole while in the process of presenting his papers for the interview to begin.
"He had not passed through the interviewing process, which is a normal practices for visa applicants, how can any one tell him of the results of the interview? It is, therefore, erroneous for anybody to deduce that the gentleman died out of shock."
Ms Parker-Burns appealed to the Media to be circumspect and not to create any unnecessary anxieties and difficulties for the bereaved family.