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10 people feared dead, others injured in accident on Tamale-Buipe highway

Ten people are feared dead with a number of people injured in a road crash including a Tamale-Kumasi bound VVIP bus with registration number AP 24-21 at Alipe, on the Tamale-Buipe Highway in the Savannah Region.

Police officers who were at the location at that time said they were able to free the injured and rushed them to a medical facility while awaiting the arrival of Ghana National Fire Service personnel from the Tamale to to move the bus to release passengers trapped.

Several of those who survived spoke to JoyNews saying they commenced their journey from Tamale around 7:32 am today, Thursday 17 April in the rains and had Kumasi as their intended destination but upon reaching Alipe, a suburb of Central Gonja district in the Savannah Region, they overtook a vehicle and tried to pass another for the which the vehicle swerved off the road, leading to the accident.

Amatus Kargu decried the unfortunate incident “We were fifteen missionaries in the bus going to Kumasi, so the moment we took off, the rains started too. But our driver was doing overtaking, and after the first car, he went for the second car but could not and went off the road. Now three of our colleagues are among those under the car. The rest were rushed to the hospital.”

Still at Alipe, there was a previous accident reported involving a Toyota pick-up with registration number GV123-21. The driver declared that he was the only individual present on the vehicle and was driving towards Buipe, but went out of control and left the road before capsizing. Thankfully no one was injured.

He said the sandy road condition affected his ability to sustain his control over the car. Amatus Kargu stated that “The spot I reached and lost control of my steering wheel was the exact place this bus got to and also veered off. Because I came out and watched the bus run into the bush. In his case, the driver was on top speed, so the bus went far before moving off the road. It’s slippery and it’s like some diesel oil poured on that portion of the road.”