48 victims of the Tamale-Kintampo road accident which occured on Wednesday, February 17, have been identified by their family members at the Kintampo mortuary.
A local reporter with Kintampo based Adas FM, Nana Wiafe Akenten, who confirmed this to Citi News, added that 10 bodies are yet to be identified at the Kintampo Municipal Hospital in the Brong Ahafo Region.
[contextly_sidebar id=”gWK5pYjC0iV6GrG0COgjQTj0CEt38IAu”]There were a total of 58 bodies from the road crash at the Kintampo mortuary.
Ghana’s worst road accident in years
The Kintampo crash will go on record as one of the country’s highest casualty road crashes in the last few years.
At the last count, the official death toll from the road crash stood at 61, with 25 survivors reported to be in critical condition according to the police service.
Bus driver likely ‘guilty’ of reckless overtaking
According to police, initial investigations suggest that the accident was caused by wrongful overtaking in a sharp curve by the MMT Bus driver, who’s also deceased.
That conclusion, they say, stems from the account of the survivors.
“Our initial investigations have revealed that the accident was caused by over speeding driving and it was from the Metro Mass Bus. It was overtaking the vehicle where they met in the same lane and then they had the head-on collision. The Regional Commander and the Inspector General of Police and some officers of the Ghana Police Service have come to the accident scene to ascertain things for themselves.”
MMT Bus possibly overloaded
In calculating the numbers in both vehicles, the police also said although investigations have not been concluded, it may not be out of place to suggest that there was overloading.
The MMT’s acting Public Relations Officer, Bernice Akologo, in an interview with Citi News however said the bus in question which has a passenger limit of 61 including the driver, left the Kumasi bus terminal with the exact number.
It is thus unclear how the numbers increased along the way. She says the company has set up a committee to investigate the accident and will come out with its report by March.
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By Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana