24 perish•After Funeral

Twenty-four passengers died on the spot in an accident at Twimia Nkwanta, a town on the Techiman-Sunyani highway on Saturday at about 6.30 pm, when a truck ran into a passenger Benz bus.

Narrating the cause of the accident to journalists, an eyewitness, Florence Baafi said a KIA truck with registration number AS1627V loaded with Wawa boards from Offinso which was using a bush route to avoid a Military/Forestry taskforce patrol, suddenly entered the main road coming face to face with a 207 Benz bus loaded with mourners who were returning from Nkoranza.

The impact was so much that 21 out of the 24 people on board the 207 bus died on the spot together with the driver and the two passengers in the KIA truck.  

The rest of the passengers who sustained serious injuries were rushed to the Techiman Holy Family Hospital for treatment whiles the dead were taken to the mortuary.

When DAILY GUIDE visited the spot, several human parts were scattered on the road as Good Samaritans made frantic efforts to remove trapped passengers.  

It took the Ghana Fire Service several hours to bring out some of the dead who were trapped in the 207 bus.

On Sunday, thousands of mourners trooped to the Techiman Holy Family mortuary to look for their dear ones.  There was wailing and gnashing of teeth as people stood in groups awaiting their turn to go for their loved ones.

Meanwhile, a statement from the Ghana Armed Forces Public Relations Directorate indicated that a high-powered delegation led by the Minister of Defence, Albert Kan-Dapaah left Accra yesterday for Techiman to offer condolences to families of persons who lost their lives in the accident.

The statement added that the accident occurred when the truck, allegedly being pursued by the taskforce patrol on authorized operational duties, drove into the 207 Benz bus.

The minister has however ordered a full-scale investigation into the circumstances that led to the unfortunate incident.

From Eric Bawah, Twimia Nkwanta