Correspondence from the Eastern Region

Seven passengers perished in a dawn accident on Saturday, March 25, 2023, on the Tema-Akosombo highway.

The accident occurred on the accident-prone Akuse-Junction to Kpong section of the road in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipal of the Eastern Region.

According to Police sources at Akuse, the accident, which occurred just before 6 am in front of the King David College, involved a Hyundai Mini Bus with registration number GB 4644 - 20 which was heading towards Tema from Juapong in the Volta Region and an articulator truck with registration number GT 6473-21 loaded with pavement blocks from Tema heading towards Akosombo.

Information gathered by GhanaWeb indicated that the Hyundai minivan attempted overtaking a sprinter bus in front of it. The attempted overtaking was said to have happened at a section of the road where a faulty sky bus with registration number GW 6464-22 had been abandoned for the past two weeks.

The Hyundai driver which found itself in the lane of the articulator during the failed overtaking attempted veering back to its lane after sensing danger.

Unfortunately, it was too late with the nearness of the articulator truck leaving it very little time to save the situation as it rammed into the Hyundai.

The impact of the crash resulted in the Hyundai somersaulting several times with the head of the driver’s mate said to have been crushed in the process and a female passenger completely decapitated.

Six occupants including four females and two males out of the eight persons aboard the vehicle died on the spot while one more died from the injuries at the Akuse Government Hospital where the victims were rushed.

Their remains have been deposited at the morgue of the facility for preservation and autopsy while one critically injured occupant remains on admission.
Officials of the Akuse Police Command, Ghana National Fire Service and the National Ambulance Service responded to the carnage and helped convey the dead and injured to the hospital.

Accident prone area

The Akuse-Junction to Kpong stretch of the Tema-Akosombo highway is an accident-prone area, claiming many lives over the years.

Nine persons were crushed to death on the night of 31st December 2021 while two persons before that also died on February 22, 2021, in an accident on the same stretch.

Overspeeding, parking of vehicles on the shoulders of the road and the absence of road markings have been identified as key contributory factors of accidents on the road.