14 Killed At Kyekyewere …Over 50 Others Injured In Bloody Crash

Some Fourteen passengers died yesterday at the Kyekyewere Community stretch of the Accra- Kumasi Highway when a cargo truck crashed into two other buses.

Over fifty other passengers said to be injured in the accident which occurred around 5:30 am are currently battling for their lives at Nsawam and Suhum Government Hospitals.

According to eyewitnesses, a DAF Cargo Truck believed to be heading towards neighbouring Burkina Faso, burst a tyre; causing the driver to lose control of the steering wheel.

The vehicle subsequently veered off its lane and crashed into the two buses fully loaded with passengers from Kumasi to Accra.

An STC bus with registration number GE 8131-16 and another bus with registration number GT4997 -20 in their attempt to dodge the DAF Cargo truck crashed.

As at press time yesterday personnel from the Ghana Police Service and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) were at the  scene to help control the situation.

Sources say some of the victims involved in the accident have been sent to the hospital.

The bodies laying on the ground beside the vehicles have also been conveyed to the morgue.

Speaking to journalists, a NADMO staff, Kwadwo Minta said the team has succeeded in rescuing all passengers who were trapped in the vehicle.

“We got a distress call from an eyewitness, so the NADMO team mobilized with the police and rushed to the scene.

“When we got here, there were about 10 bodies and we couldn’t even tell which head belongs to which body.

“The bodies that we counted at the scene were ten, then the NADMO chief had a call from the hospital that one more person had passed on,” he said.

“It is fair to say the STC and KIA bus were both fully loaded considering the numbers of passengers,” he added.

Meanwhile, in an update on the situation, the Ayensuano District Police Commander, ASP Francis Kwadwo Nartey said the death toll now stands at 14.

According to him, two of the fatalities came from the STC bus while the other 12 were from the KIA bus.

This is not the first time such a road carnage has claimed human lives on that stretch.

In 2015, four persons died with dozens left in critical conditions when two VIP buses on which they were travelling run into a parked articulated truck at that same Kyekyewere township on the Suhum-Asuboi stretch of the Accra- Kumasi highway.

According to information the accident which occurred at about 2:30am involved two VIP buses, with registration numbers BA 1680-14 and GE 6001-14, which were coming from Techiman in the Brong Ahafo Region towards Accra, but on approaching Kyekyewere in the Ayensuano District in the Eastern Region one attempted to overtake the other resulting in the crush.