At least 14 persons have died in an accident on the Takoradi-Cape Coast Highway at Asemasa Number 1 near Beposo in the Shama District of the Western Region.
They were burnt to death after a head-on collision involving their Ford passenger vehicle with registration number GW 5628-21 and a tipper truck at about 2:00 pm on Tuesday, 22 March 2022.
Reports suggest that the tipper truck attempted an overtaking but lost control after a tyre burst.
The driver of the Ford, who realised that the truck had entered his lane, stopped to pave the way for the truck.
However, the truck rammed into the Ford and caught fire leaving over a dozen passengers dead.
In a statement released later, the police said: “Suspect driver Musah aged 40 years was in charge [of an] Arvorense tipper truck with registration number yet to be known with his mate on board, loaded with quantities of stones from Saltpond towards Takoradi direction”.
“On reaching a spot of the road at Komenda Sefwi along the Cape Coast – Takoradi highway, he allegedly burst the front offside tyre.
“In the process, he veered into the opposite lane and eventually collided with an oncoming Ford bus with registration No. GW 6628 – 21 being driven by suspect driver Seth Tetteh aged about 35 years, with thirteen passengers including one foreigner on board travelling from Tarkwa to Accra”.
“The accident vehicles got ablaze and burnt all the occupants of the Ford bus beyond recognition”.
“The driver and the mate of the tipper truck sustained injuries and were rushed to the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital for treatment”.
Meanwhile, “the bodies have been sent to the same hospital’s mortuary for preservation, identification and autopsy. Efforts are being made to tow the accident vehicles to safety.”