Gory accidents: 19 Perish
Nineteen people died in two separate crashes at the weekend in the Central and Eastern regions.
The Central Region crash in the morning of yesterday at Gomoa Mampong on the Accra-Cape Coast highway (N1) resulted in the death of 10 persons on board two vehicles.
Twenty-six other passengers are in a critical condition at the Trauma and Specialist Hospital in Winneba.
In the Eastern Region, nine persons, including a six-month-old baby, died on the spot in a crash on the Accra-Kumasi Highway at Akyem Apedwa Pig Farm junction near Suhum in the Abuakwa South Municipality in the Eastern Region yesterday evening.
The accident, which occurred about 6:40 p.m., also left other persons injured while others who were in a critical condition had been admitted to the Suhum and Kyebi Government hospitals.
Overtaking goes wrong
The police said the accident occurred when a Mercedes Benz Sprinter bus, with registration number GT7394-14 and a DAF truck, with registration number 2459-T103 from opposite directions collided head-on.
In the Central Region, the accident involved a 33-seater Yutong bus with registration number GN 4741-10 which was travelling from Takoradi towards Accra.
The other vehicle, a 45-seater KIA bus with registration number GS 6262-19, was also travelling from Aflao in the Volta Region towards Cote d’Ivoire.
The deceased, who are yet to be identified, are made up of four females and six males.
Their bodies have been deposited at the Winneba Trauma and Specialist Hospital for preservation and autopsy.
The Winneba District Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mrs Bertha Boguu, said the drivers of both buses overtook the wrong way, resulting in a head-on collision around 3:30 a.m.
She noted that personnel from her outfit and the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) rushed to the scene to convey the deceased and the injured to hospital.
For his part, the Central Regional PRO of the GNFS, DOIII, Mr Abdul Wusiu Hudu, said that his outfit received a distress call around 3:30 am and rushed to the scene.
He noted that some passengers were trapped in the mangled vehicles and managed to extricate them before conveying them to hospital.
Eastern Region
In a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the Eastern Regional Police Command, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mr Ebenezer Tetteh, the driver of the Benz bus, yet to be identified, was travelling from Nkawkaw with 14 passengers on board.
It said on reaching a section of the road at Apedwa Pig Farm junction, the driver made an unsafe overtaking, which obstructed traffic from the opposite direction.
The statement indicated that in the process he crashed his vehicle into the truck.
It further stated that the driver of the truck coming from the direction of Accra had been identified as Yakouba Sonogo, aged 34.
The statement explained that six female passengers, a six-month-old baby and three males died on the spot.
The police said the bodies had been deposited at the Suhum Government Hospital for preservation and identification, while the injured had been taken to the Kyebi Government Hospital.