17 persons are feared dead and more than 50 others injured in a horrific accident after a truck crashed into two buses on the Kyekyewere stretch of the Accra-Kumasi highway.
According to news sources, the driver of a DAF Cargo Truck believed to be heading towards Burkina Faso lost control of the steering wheel after the car’s tyre burst. It then veered of its lane and crashed into an STC with registration number GE 8131-16 and another bus with registration number GT 4997-20 believed to be heading towards Accra.
Sources say personnel from the Ghana Ambulance Service, National Disaster Management Organization, and the Ghana Police Service went to the scene to help control the situation. The Ghana National Fire Service was also at the scene to wipe the fuel and blood to curb a possible explosion.
Among the dead, according to eyewitnesses included a little child whose complete body they couldn’t gather because it was slashed apart. Eyewitnesses say some of the victims have been sent to the Nsawam and Suhum Government hospitals for treatment and the bodies conveyed to the morgue.
In an interview with newsmen, a NADMO staff, Kwadwo Minta said the team succeeded in rescuing those who were stuck in the vehicle. “When we got here after a distress call from an eyewitness, the bodies were about 10 and we couldn’t tell which head belongs to which body.”
Mr. Minta said considering the number of fatalities, there is no doubt that the buses were fully loaded. “It is fair to say the STC and KIA bus were both fully loaded,” he added.
Statistics by Ghana’s National Road and Safety Commission (NRSC) indicate an estimated 46,284 people killed from road traffic accidents between 1991 and 2018. The causes of these carnages recorded often lie with the drivers and their vehicles rather than with the roads themselves.