Black Wednesday at Kintampo; Accident claims 61 lives
A Metro Mass Transit (MMT) bus and a cargo truck collided on the Kintampo-Tamale road last Wednesday night, leaving 61 passengers dead and 25 others seriously injured.
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The accident occurred when the Bolgatanga-bound MMT bus from Kumasi, which had developed faulty brakes, ran into an oncoming cargo truck at a place between Kintampo and Babatokuma on the main Kintampo-Tamale road.
According to reports, the bus developed faulty brakes at Techiman but the driver managed to repair it.
However, the problem recurred when the bus reached Kintampo, but the driver could not stop immediately.
As a result, the bus, with registration number AS 3171 Y, hit a cow in an attempt to avoid colliding with a fuel tanker.
When the driver managed to control the bus and brought it back onto the road, it ran into the cargo truck which was fully loaded with tomatoes.
The mutilated bodies of the deceased were collected onto trucks and other vehicles to the Kintampo Government Hospital and nearby hospitals, while the survivors were airlifted to the Sunyani Regional Hospital and the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi for intensive care.
The entire accident scene was painted red from the tomatoes that covered the area, mixed with broken wooden boxes and pieces of metals chopped off from the two vehicles as a result of the intensity of the collision.
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Vehicles coming from Kintampo and those from the opposite direction had to wait for hours for the accident vehicles to be towed from the road before they could continue their journeys.
When the Daily Graphic visited the scene of the accident yesterday, it was dotted with the personal belongings of the victims, including shoes, clothes, ladies’ handbags and portions of the carcass of the cow which was knocked down by the MMT bus before colliding with the cargo truck.
The mangled bus lay on its side, with its seats and the engine scattered not far from the accident scene.
As for the cargo truck, what remained of it were its chassis and tyres, while the entire body had been peeled off and broken into pieces.
Kintampo Hospital
As of 2 p.m. yesterday when the Daily Graphic visited the Kintampo Government Hospital, the Medical Superintendent, Dr Bismark Owusu-Fosu, and his staff were preparing some of the injured for transfer to other hospitals for intensive care.
Out of the 25 injured people, two were airlifted to the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH), 11 to the Sunyani Regional Hospital, six to KATH and six transported by an ambulance to the Techiman Holy Family Hospital.
At the accident scene and the hospital were the Minister of Transport, Mr Fifi Fiavi Kwetey; the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development,
Alhaji Collins Dauda; the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Eric Opoku; the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr John Kudolor; the Chief Fire Officer, Dr Brown Gaisie, and some officials of the National Security Secretariat.
Condolence
Mr Kwetey conveyed the condolences of the President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, to the bereaved family and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
Alhaji Dauda gave an assurance that the government would pick the medical bills of the injured.
Dr Owusu-Fosu, for his part, appealed for the expansion of the hospital’s Emergency Department to enable it to handle such gory accidents which occurred frequently in the area.
He explained that since Kintampo was the gateway to the Northern and Upper East regions, hospitals in the area were always overwhelmed and brought to its knees when such accidents occurred.
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He said it was pathetic that the only ambulance at the hospital could carry only two injured patients at a time, while others waited for the ambulance to make the return journey to convey them.
In all, 86 people, including the deceased and the injured, were involved in the accident.
The cargo car was carrying five passengers, while the rest were on the MMT bus which was supposed to carry 63 passengers.
An eight-month-old girl survived the accident, which claimed her mother’s life.
From Sunyani, Kwame Asiedu Marfo reports that eight victims of the accident which occurred on the Kintampo-Tamale road were airlifted to the Sunyani Regional Hospital for further medical attention.
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The Medical Director in charge of the Accident and Emergency Unit of the Sunyani Regional Hospital, Dr Solomon Fofie, told the Daily Graphic that all the eight casualties were in stable condition.
However, he said three of them who had spinal injuries and a one-year-old baby who had head injury would be referred to KATH, while those who sustained fractures would remain at the hospital.
“They are all in stable condition, except the baby who is being resuscitated,” he said.
The medical evacuation attracted many people to the field of the Sunyani Nursing/Midwifery Training College, near the Sunyani Regional Hospital, where the helicopter landed and from where the victims were taken by ambulance to the hospital.
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Meanwhile, seven of the accident victims have been transferred to KATH, writes Kwadwo Baffoe Donkor from Kumasi.
Out of the seven, one was brought in dead, while six others were seriously injured.
The oldest of them is said to be 52 years, with the youngest being four years.
The Deputy Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Mr Ernst Abban, who confirmed this to the Daily Graphic, said the identities of all of them, with the exception of one woman, had been established.