A collision between two 14-passenger Toyota Hiace buses travelling in opposite directions on the Accra-Kumasi highway in Ghana's Eastern Region has resulted in at least nine deaths, local media reported.
Jennifer Naa Yarley Quaye, commander of the Eastern Regional Division of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), confirmed to the press on Monday that the two vehicles with a total of 28 passengers aboard collided head-on at Birimso near the Bonsu crossroads.
"Nine people, including two females and seven males, died on the spot. Officials from the GNFS and the Ghana Police Service rescued 11 persons with injuries and sent them to the government hospital in Kibi, a community not far from the highway," Yarley Quaye told the media.
According to the GNFS official, the bodies were sent to Kibi Government Hospital mortuary in the city of Kyebi to verify their identities.
Local media said that the police are currently conducting investigations into the reason behind the collision of the two buses belonging to the same transportation firm, the 2M Express Company Limited.
According to Bunso Station Officer of the GNFS, ADO II Samuel Doe, the bus coming from the capital city of Accra is believed to have suddenly veered off to the lane of the oncoming bus from Kumasi causing the collision on the Birimso stretch of the highway, where a trailer truck carrying a fallen container had been involved in another crash.
"The trailer carrying [a] container had an accident there, but when you observe, you can see that the container is not in the middle of the road. Some people were saying the vehicle from Kumasi swerved the container but looking at the scene actually, you could observe that the car that was coming from Kumasi was in its lane correctly and that the one coming from Accra diverted to the Kumasi lane. From my observation, I will say the accident wasn’t caused by the trailer," Doe told the media.
According to another local media report, the 2M Express buses collision has brought the total number of car accident fatalities recorded in the Eastern region of the country over the weekend to 18 people. Two other accidents were reported during the weekend, with a total death toll of 9 people.