A crash involving a commercial minibus and a stationary truck at Dompoase near Komenda on the Cape Coast-Takoradi highway has claimed two lives and left eight others injured.
The fatal accident occurred on Friday evening when a Toyota Hiace with registration number AS 6145-24 collided with a broken-down truck after reportedly swerving to avoid an oncoming vehicle.
Emergency crews from the Komenda Fire Station received a distress call at about 6:55 p.m. and reached the scene by 7:10 p.m. to begin rescue operations.
According to the rescue team, one passenger was pronounced dead at the accident scene. Another occupant was trapped inside the badly damaged Toyota Hiace and had to be extricated by firefighters. Although the victim was rescued from the wreckage, they later died, bringing the number of fatalities to two.
Confirming the incident in a statement, the Central Regional Public Relations Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service, Divisional Officer Grade II (DO II) Abdul Wasiu Hudu, said preliminary investigations showed that 10 people were travelling in the commercial vehicle when the crash occurred.
He said eight passengers suffered varying degrees of injury, with three of them reported to be in critical condition.
Personnel from the National Ambulance Service transported all the injured victims to the Elmina Polyclinic, where they are receiving treatment.
The statement explained that initial accounts from an eyewitness indicated that an unidentified vehicle travelling from Takoradi towards Cape Coast attempted to overtake another vehicle.
To avoid a head-on collision with the overtaking vehicle, the Toyota Hiace, which was travelling in the opposite direction from Cape Coast towards Takoradi, reportedly left its lane and slammed into a stationary truck with registration number GN 2491-14 that had broken down along the roadside.
The force of the collision destroyed the front section of the commercial vehicle, trapping one occupant inside until firefighters carried out a rescue operation, while another passenger died instantly at the scene.
