2 Separate Accidents Claim 16 Lives In Eastern Region |

Sixteen people lost their lives in two separate accidents at separate locations in the Eastern Region over the weekend.

While seven persons perished and six others sustained severe injuries in a gory motor accident at Birimso near Bunso stretch of the Accra-Kumasi Highway, six others also died in an accident last Saturday morning at King David Commercial College stretch between Akuse and Kpong in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality.

Birimso accident
An eye witness said the accident occurred last Sunday when two Toyota Hiace buses belonging to 2M Express Company Limited, with registration numbers GN 3229 – 21 and GN 8292 – 20, travelling on opposite directions collided head-on.

According to the eye witness, there were 14 passengers on each bus and the bodies of the victims together with the injured persons, were sent to the Kyebi Government Hospital.

The Bunso Station Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service, ADO II Samuel Doe, said his outfit received a distress call around 4:30am, on the said day about an accident which had occurred on the stretch.

He said his men on duty rushed to the spot to assess the situation.

On arrival, they realised that the two mini buses had collided head on.

They also observed that some people had lost their lives and thus removed the bodies and the injured persons trapped in the vehicles.

Also, he indicated that some victims who were trapped in the vehicles were helped out and conveyed to the hospital.

Hospital
The Medical Superintendent of the Kyebi Government Hospital, Dr Richard Nii Darku Dodoo, confirmed that the nine bodies and the six injured persons had been brought to the hospital.

He said three of the injured persons had been treated and discharged, while the remaining three had been referred to the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital both in Accra, and the Okomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, respectively.

The bodies of those, who perished, had been deposited at the morgue for autopsy.

Dr Dodoo further indicated that five of the dead had been identified by relatives and appealed to family members of the remaining dead to proceed to the hospital to identify the remaining four.

According to eyewitnesses at the accident scene, the Hyundai Grace commercial vehicle from Juapong heading towards Accra, with registration number GB 4642-20, on reaching the King David Commercial College, in a bid to overtake a stationary truck, crashed head-on with an oncoming truck, with registration number GT 6473 21, which was fully loaded with railway lines with an embossed pass permit from the Ministry of Railways Development.

Both the injured and dead were quickly rushed to the Akuse Government Hospital by rescue operators consisting of personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service, Ambulance Service and the Akuse Police where medical officers at the hospital confirmed the deaths.

Six other persons, two males and four females, who sustained injuries,  are currently on admission at the Akuse Government Hospital with two in critical condition.