10 Killed. In accident

RESIDENTS OF Anyinamso No. 2 in the Atwima Nwabiagya District of the Ashanti Region on Thursday woke up to the horrendous news of the death of 10 people in a gory motor accident.

About 30 passengers including an eight-month-old boy and a two-year-old girl survived the accident but sustained life-threatening injuries, raising fears that the death toll might rise.

The injured are currently on admission at the Intensive Care Unit of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, responding to treatment while the remains of the deceased persons have been deposited at the hospital's morgue awaiting autopsy.

It was not clear what caused the accident but eyewitness accounts indicated that the crash occurred when the driver of a Kumasi-Sefwi Dadiesoba bound 33-seater Benz bus, in an attempt to overtake an Urvan vehicle, collided headlong with an oncoming Mercedes Benz Sprinter bus which was from Sefwi Wiawso to Kumasi.

The impact of the crash was so profound that initially there were conflicting reports of the number of those who had lost their lives.

Earlier, eye witnesses speculated that about 40 people on board the two vehicles had lost their lives while the police settled on eight people made up of five males and three females.

 But later, DAILY GUIDE' s checks at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) morgue revealed that 10 persons lost their lives through the accident, whilst about 37 people sustained severe injuries.

At about 10:30 am when DAILY GUIDE visited the accident scene, panic had gripped residents of Anyinamso No. 2, a small farming community, with members of the bereaved families wailing uncontrollably.

At the time of our visit, the mangled Benz bus with registration number GT 2265 F and the Mercedes Benz Sprinter also with registration number AW 2060 Y which was damaged beyond repairs, were by the road side, yet to be towed away.

Belongings of the passengers which had been stained with blood were scattered on the road as residents of the area tried to clear the wreckage from the road.

One Oduro, a teacher by profession, who witnessed the horrific incident, told DAILY GUIDE that the accident occurred at exactly 8:40 am when the Benz Bus driver, driving at top speed, tried to overtake an urvan bus in front of him.

He added, “At that time, the Mercedes Benz Sprinter which was also driving at top speed crashed with it killing a number of the occupants instantly”.

According to Oduro, residents of the town immediately rushed to the scene to retrieve both the dead and the injured persons and rushed them to the Nkawie Government Hospital from where they were later referred to KATH.   

The Nkawie Divisional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police Kwame Tachie Poku, later in an interview, said he sent his men to the accident scene immediately he got wind of it at 9:15 am.

He corroborated the eye witness accounts that an attempt by the Benz bus driver to overtake the Urvan bus might have caused the bloody accident.

He indicated that eight people died on the spot while others sustained severe injuries, fearing that the death toll might increase.

ACP Poku was worried about over-speeding on the roads in the area of late and attributed the sudden development to the absence of Police on the roads.

He thus mooted for the immediate return of the police on the roads to avert the recurrence of carnage on the roads, especially as the Christmas season draws near.

The Police capo, as part of efforts to reduce accidents on the roads, promised to intensify campaign on road regulations, adding that drivers need to respect road signs to avert preventable accidents.

From Fred J.A. Ibrahim Jnr., Anyinamso, Ashanti