FIVE PERSONS died instantly when a Metro Mass Transit Bus which was running at top speed, rammed into a Blue Bird Bus between Akom and Ahenkro on the Kumasi-Offinso main road in the early hours of Tuesday.
The accident occurred a few minutes after the Blue Bird bus had developed a fault, compelling the driver to stop in the middle of the road for passengers to alight.
The Blue Bird Bus, registered GR 5039-L, was from Kumasi and heading towards Nanugu in the Northern Region when its front tyre burst around 2am.
Passengers onboard the faulty bus were alighting from the bus so that the damaged tyre could be replaced when the Metro Mass Transit Bus with registration number AW 238-Z, travelling from Bolgatanga to Kumasi, rammed into it.
ASP Albert Odei-Quansah, Offinso Police Commander, told DAILY GUIDE that five persons including the driver of the Metro bus identified as Haruna Abdul Karim, died on the spot.
He said 19 injured passengers, with some in coma, are receiving treatment at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi.
ASP Odei-Quansah said five other injured persons who were not immediately identified, are receiving treatment at the St. Patrick Hospital in Offinso.
The impact of the crash was so severe that it woke people living around the communities nearby from their sleep, and they rushed to the accident scene to help convey the injured persons to hospital.
The dead persons have since been deposited at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) morgue in Kumasi for autopsy.
The driver of the Blue Bird Bus tried with difficulty to control the car when its tyre got burst, Richard Karikari of National Road Safety Commission told DAILY GUIDE.
According to him, passengers on board the damaged bus were showering praises on the driver for managing to control the bus to safety after the tyre had burst; but before they could finish praising him, the Metro Mass Bus suddenly rammed into the Blue Bird vehicle.
He suspected that darkness on the road and the enormous speeding on the part of the Metro Mass Transit driver, contributed to the gory accident which claimed the five lives and injured other travellers.
From I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi