Eighteen perish in accidents as 2 Benz buses crash into stationary vehicle

Eighteen people died in two separate gory accidents on the Accra-Kumasi highway between Thursday night and yesterday dawn.

The accidents involved a 207 Benz bus, with registration number AW 5174-13, and a Sprinter bus, with registration number GY 2520-13.
The two buses were travelling from Accra to Kumasi when the accidents occurred at Nobewam, near Konongo in the Ashanti Region.
None of the dead, comprising five men and 11 women, has so far been identified. The bodies have been deposited at the Steward Hospital mortuary in Konongo, while the injured have been taken to the Konongo Odumase Government Hospital and the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital for treatment.

Accidents
The first accident occurred about 8:30 p.m. on Thursday when the Sprinter bus rammed into a breakdown lumber truck that had been parked in the middle of the road.
Four people died on the spot, while one died later at the Konongo Odumase Government Hospital.
The second accident occurred at the same place around 4:30 a.m. yesterday and claimed 12 lives on the spot, while  another passenger died later at hospital, bringing the number of people who died in the two accidents to 18.

Scene
When the Daily Graphic visited the scene of the accidents, it observed that personal effects of the passengers were scattered there, while portions of the buses were stained with blood.
In the front seat of the Benz bus, there was a jaw believed to belong to the driver of the vehicle.
The seats in the vehicles had to be cut to enable rescuers to get to the victims.

Police
Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Konongo Divisional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mr Francis Brobbey, said after the first accident, the police cleared the road and placed six warning triangles and cones about 150 metres away from the breakdown truck to warn motorists.
He said after the vehicle broke down, the driver left it there unattended to and also failed to put any warning signs on the road to indicate that the vehicle was faulty.
However, he said, the second bus ran over all the warning triangles and cones before crashing  into the stationary truck, killing 12 people on the spot.
According to him, although the police were unable to move the truck from the road on time, if the driver had respected the warning signs, the second accident could have been avoided.