Several passengers critically injured after near-fatal accident in Nkawkaw

Several passengers are battling for their lives after a collision between a commercial bus carrying passengers and an articulated truck.

The accident occurred around 9:00 pm on Tuesday, 21 June 2022, at Oframase near the Nkawkaw stretch of Accra to Kumasi Highways in the Eastern region.

According to an eyewitness, both vehicles approaching a stationary Rhino truck carrying charcoal in the middle of the road attempted to pass without observing oncoming traffic hence the head-on collision.

Another eyewitness also said the occupants of the bus, particularly those in front seats, were seriously injured.

He said the Police arrived at the scene a few minutes later to extricate and rescue the victims to Holy Family Hospital in Nkawkaw.

Road crashes between January and March 2022

Over the past months, many fatal accidents have occurred in different parts of the country, leading to the loss of hundreds of lives.

The development has sparked a national discussion about the rising spate of fatal crashes, especially on the country’s highways.

A total of 734 persons lost their lives through road crashes between January and March 2022, a Road Traffic Crash and Casualty Situation Report from the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) has said.

The report said 4,025 persons also sustained various degrees of injuries through crashes in the same period.

A total of 3,932 crashes were reported, involving 6,587 vehicles and 712 pedestrian knockdowns.

The 2022 recorded cases represent a decrease of 1.92 per cent of the cases recorded (4,009) in 2021 for the same period.

A total of 6,830 vehicles were involved in the 2021 crashes, representing 3.52 per cent decrease compared to that of 2022.

Regarding pedestrian knockdowns, 724 persons were involved in 2021, representing 1.66 percent decrease in 2022.

Out of the total number of vehicles involved in the 2022 crashes, 2,210 were commercial vehicles; 2,948 were private vehicles and 1,429 of them were motorcycles.

The top three regions, which recorded the highest number of crashes are: Greater Accra, Ashanti and Eastern.

Greater Accra recorded 1,661 crashes, representing 42.24 per cent of the total number of crashes.

Ashanti region recorded 918 crashes, representing 23.35 per cent, whilst Eastern region recorded 452 crashes, representing 11.50 per cent.

Savannah, North East and Oti were the three regions that recorded the lowest number of crashes.

Savannah region had 30 crashes (0.76 per cent); North-East Region recorded 17 incidents (0.43 per cent) and Oti experienced 13 crashes, (0.33 per cent).

In terms of fatalities, Greater Accra recorded 139 (18.94 per cent); Ashanti Region had 137(18.66 per cent), and Eastern Region recorded 136 (18.53 per cent).

The Upper East and Oti regions recorded ten fatalities each (representing 1.36 per cent, respectively), whilst the North East region had 7 fatalities (0.95 per cent).

The regional distribution of crashes and fatalities indicates that the Greater Accra Region, Ashanti and Eastern regions put together contributed about 77.09 per cent of crashes and 56.13 per cent of fatalities in January and March 2022, respectively.