The death toll from the gory accident that occurred on the Kintampo-Tamale road on Wednesday night, has increased to 61.<\/p>\n
This was confirmed by ASP Christopher Tawiah, Spokesperson of the Brong Ahafo Regional Police Command.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe latest and the final report is that 61 dead and then 25 are in critical condition. They are the survivors. They referred them to the hospitals that we have, eight have been referred to the Komfo Anokye hospital and six have been referred to Techiman Holy Family Hospital and then two to the Tamale hospital and then 11 to Sunyani hospital..\u201d<\/p>\n
Those at the\u00a0Techiman Holy Family Hospital \u00a0are said to be\u00a0in critical condition with fractures and head injuries.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”1Cts9zMKnlHB3FeBIE1DE89jFF5hfRpX”]The number from the police is contrary to others being reported elsewhere.<\/p>\n
The deadly crash occurred on the Kintampo-Tamale road when a Metro Mass bus which allegedly in an attempt to overtake another car in a sharp curve, collided head-on with a Truck loaded with tomatoes which was traveling down south.<\/p>\n
Bus driver likely ‘guilty’ of wrongful overtaking<\/strong><\/p>\n According to ASP Tawiah, initial investigations suggest that the accident was caused by wrongful overtaking on a sharp curve by the MMT Bus driver.<\/p>\n That conclusion he says stems from the account of the survivors.<\/p>\n \u201cOur 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\u00a0lane 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.\u201d<\/p>\n MMT Bus possibly overloaded<\/strong><\/p>\n In calculating the numbers in both vehicles, ASP Tawiah said although investigations have not been concluded, it may not be out of place to suggest that there was overloading.<\/p>\n The MMT\u2019s acting Public Relations Officer, Bernice Akologo, in an interview with Citi Eyewitness 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The analysis of the numbers<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cOn the bus, if you want to do mathematics, the cargo truck was carrying passengers which four of them have lost their lives. The drivers \u2018mate was sitting on top of the tomatoes so he was thrown somewhere but he survived. If the bus is supposed to take about 70, it should be 75 but the number we are having here, 25 plus 51 then it is like we are having 86 which is not reasonable\u201d, ASP Tawiah stated.<\/p>\n