At least 20 die when passenger buses collide in Ghana

[News_Editor]

At least 20 die when passenger buses collide in Ghana

2011-09-15 19:01:26 GMT+7 (ICT)

KONONGO, GHANA (BNO NEWS) -- At least 20 people were killed on early Thursday morning when two passenger buses collided head-on on a highway in southern Ghana, police said. Others have been injured.

The accident happened at around 3 a.m. local time on the Kumasi-Accra highway near Konongo, the capital of Ashanti Region. Police said one of the two buses was attempting to overtake a vehicle when it slammed head-on into another bus which was coming from the opposite direction.

As of early Thursday afternoon, officials said at least 20 bodies had been removed from both buses while more than a dozen passengers have been transported to area hospitals for treatment. An unknown number of people are believed to remain trapped inside the wreckage.

A reporter for a local radio station said body parts were scattered across the scene of the accident, Joy FM reported. The station said rescue workers were cutting through the mangled wreckage to pull out victims.

Police said some of the injured are in a critical condition and the number of fatalities is expected to rise.

According to the most recent data released by the country's National Road Safety Commission, more than 1,800 people were killed in 2006 as a result of traffic accidents.

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