71 Die In Horrendous Head On Collision Between Bus & Cargo Truck In Ghana

Image copyrightAlbert Azongo

The number of people killed when a bus crashed into a truck in northern Ghana has risen to 71, medical officials say.

The Metro Mass Transit coach reportedly collided head-on with a cargo truck carrying tomatoes near the town of Kintampo on Wednesday evening.

Regional police chief Maxwell Atingane told Reuters news agency that many passengers died at the scene.

He said police were investigating the cause of the crash, believed to be one of the worst in many years.

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Joy News, a Ghanaian website, reported that a passenger told police that the bus had been experiencing brake problems.

Investigators said the bus was overloaded, carrying more than 70 passengers rather than a maximum of 63.

The coach was travelling north from Kumasi, the second largest city after Accra, the capital.

Fifty-eight of the 71 were already dead when they were brought to the hospital in Kintampo, said Bismark Owusu Fosu, the hospital director.

A further 10 died after admission, and another three people died at a nearby hospital, he added.

Anger has spread against some people on social media who shared horrific pictures of the aftermath, the BBC’s Sammy Darko reports from Accra.

Emergency services are said to have worked for hours to try to free passengers trapped in the wreckage.

President John Mahama offered his condolences to “those who’ve lost loved ones” source-BBC