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Initial investigations into the Wednesday night accident on the Kintampo-Tamale road that killed 61 people, have revealed that the driver of the Metro Mass Transit (MMT) bus, caused the accident by overtaking wrongly in a sharp curve.

The Brong Ahafo Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Christopher Tawiah, who said this in an interview on Eyewitness News, said the Police came to this conclusion based on the account given by some of the survivors.

This is contrary to earlier suggestions that the accident occurred because the bus’ breaks failed. 

“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.” 

Bus possibly overloaded

The police has also suggested the MMT bus was possibly overloaded since the bus which should originally carry 61 passengers including the driver, had 81 people at the time of the accident.

The cargo truck also had on-board, five passengers who died, except the drivers’ mate who fell off from the packed cartons of tomatoes but survived.

“The 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.”
Those at the Techiman Holy Family Hospital are said to be in critical condition with fractures and head injuries.

Analysis of the numbers

“On the bus, if you want to do mathematics, the cargo truck was carrying passengers which four of them have lost their lives. The drivers ‘mate 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”, ASP Tawiah stated.

MMT to investigate and pay bills

The Management of MMT has since served notice it will pay the medical bills of all the survivors as it investigates the incident.

Ghana’s worst road accident in years

This is by far one of the country’s highest casualties in a road crash in the last few years.

The usual ministerial visits

The Minister of Transport, Fiifi Kwetey, led by the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Eric Opoku, have visited Kintampo to assess the situation. The delegation also included Collins Dauda and the acting Inspector General of Police, John Kudalor.