Collision leaves 31 dead; 29 Burnt beyond recognition

The Kintampo Highway recorded yet another deadly accident at dawn yesterday, leaving 31 people dead, with 29 of them, including three children, burnt beyond recognition.

The accident, which occurred at a spot between Dawadawa No 2 and Kawampe, about 30 kilometres from Kintampo in the Bono East Region, was the result of a head-on collision between a Kia Grandbird bus carrying 12 passengers, sacks of green pepper and tomatoes, and a Mercedes Sprinter bus which was carrying passengers and their luggage.

The deceased also include a policeman, Lance Corporal Emmanuel Nangongo Yen, 37, who was on board the benz bus and the driver of the Grandbird, Abdulai Siaka, 38.

The Kintampo Municipal Police Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD), Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mr Francis Brobbey, told the Daily Graphic that the Grandbird registered as GT 5059 - 17, which was travelling from Bawku to Kumasi, veered off its lane about 4.20 a.m. and collided head-on with the Mercedes Sprinter, with registration number AS 1801 - 18, which was heading towards Tamale from Kumasi.

He said three children and 26 adult bodies were burned beyond recognition.

DSP Brobbey said two of the bodies that were recognisible had jumped off the moving vehicle but could not survive.

Impact

As a result of the severe impact of the collision, both buses caught fire, trapping the passengers in them as a result.

According to the police report, all the passengers in the Mercedes Sprinter bus were burnt beyond recognition.

It said while some of the passengers in the Grandbird died in the accident, six of them survived with varying degrees of injury and were rushed to the Kintampo Municipal Hospital.

Eyewitnesses account

The Assembly Member for Kawampe, Mr Mathias Taasun, who arrived on the scene shortly after the accident, told the Daily Graphic that as of 11 a.m. yesterday, 29 bodies had been recovered from the two buses, with 27 of them burnt.

"I was woken up about 4.30 a.m. and informed about the accident. I rushed to the scene, only to see the two buses in flames. It was a pitiful sight to see human beings on fire," he said.

He explained that firemen from the Ghana National Fire Service and policemen were on hand to douse the flames before the charred bodies were removed and sent to the mortuary.

Mr Taasun said the drivers of both buses were among the deceased, adding: "As I speak now, the deceased are being loaded onto a vehicle to be taken to the Kintampo Municipal Hospital morgue for preservation.”

Recall

In February 2016, a similar fatal accident involving a Metro Mass Transit bus and a cargo truck which was loaded with tomatoes which occurred on the outskirts of Kintampo claimed 61 lives.

Similar fatal incidents that had occurred on the Techiman-Kintampo-Tamale highway over the years also claimed the lives of many people.