Ghana: 61 killed as bus collides with tomato truck

The brakes failed as the bus attempted to negotiate a curve, and the bus struck the truck, the passenger said.

A collision between a passenger bus and a truck in northern Ghana killed 62 people, broadcaster Peace FM reported, citing a hospital official.

Ghana: scene of the accident.

“It was very serious”. “The death toll so far has reached 53, 23 people survived”, regional police spokesman Christopher Tawiah told AFP.

The accident happened yesterday evening (Feb 17) and is being described as one of the worst road disasters in the west African country.

Efforts by a team of military, fire service and police personnel to free passengers trapped in the mangled MMT bus for a several hours proved unsuccessful.

Bismark Owusu Fosu, medical director at the Kintampo hospital, said some of the injured had been evacuated by air for treatment in Kumasi, Ghana’s second city.

A witness said the bus tried to overtake a vehicle at a sharp bend in the road when it collided with the truck, Tawiah reported.

On Twitter, President John Dramani Mahama expressed condolences to affected families and said emergency crews were responding.

Police believe a mechanical failure on the bus led to the accident, but have launched an investigation to ascertain the cause.