15 perish in fatal motor accident on Kumasi-Techiman highway

January 11, 2011 Nkenkaasu (Ash), Jan. 11, GNA - Fifteen (15) people perished on Tuesday when two Yutong buses on which they were travelling collided head-on just about a kilometre from Nkenkaasu on the Kumasi-Techiman highway.

Many other passengers suffered deep multiple cuts and broken bones and were rushed to the Techiman Holy Family, Offinso Saint Patrick and Nkenkaasu Government hospitals for treatment.

Seven of them, whose conditions were said to be critical and life-threatening, had been referred to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).

The badly mutilated dead bodies, some with the limbs severed, had been deposited at the Nkenkaasu hospital.

The large crowd of people that gathered at the scene of the crash could not hold back their tears as they wept uncontrollably at the gory sight of blood, twisted and mangled metal.

Tetteh Amega, 39, and Peter Aburuya, 23, two of the accident victims spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) and said it happened at about 0330 hours on Tuesday.

Amega said they were on their way to Kumasi from Bolgatanga while the other bus was heading in the opposite direction.

He said all of a sudden, the driver of their bus, applied the brakes and this was followed by a deafening bang.

The Offinso North District Police Commander, ASP Philbert Zubaviel said the cause of the fatal accident was yet to be established.

He said personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) were called in to cut through the wreckage to rescue trapped victims and remove the dead bodies.

Dr Eric Kwame Detoh, Medical Superintendent of the Nkenkassu hospital, said those who received slight injuries had been treated and discharged by the facility.

He said it was difficult to determine the actual number of the injured because they were sent to different facilities.

GNA