Pulse Picks: 5 accidents in 2021 that should make road safety a priority

Road traffic injuries place an enormous burden on Ghana's economic growth and health delivery systems, especially where young people constitute a major part of the population.

Provisional data compiled by the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service has revealed that from January to October this year, recorded 2,380 fatal road accidents.

That exceeds the number of COVID-19 deaths since its outbreak in Ghana, making road accidents a great danger to Ghanaians.

Twelve thousand, eight hundred and ninety (12,890) people are said to have sustained serious injuries from road accidents and 13,244 cases of car crashes have been recorded, all in ten (10) months.

Ghanaians must work together if they are to achieve the goal of halving road crash deaths.

As 2021 comes to an end, Pulse.com.gh takes a look at the number of road crashes in 2021 that should make road safety a priority.

20 die in Offinso-Abofour road

The police have confirmed the death of 20 people in a vehicular accident on the Offinso-Abofour road in the Ashanti Region.

The accident has also resulted in injuries to 16 other persons.

The accident involved a Mercedez Sprinter bus and an articulated truck.

The bodies of the deceased have been deposited at the morgue.

The injured are receiving treatment at a hospital.

The Offinso MTTD Commander, DSP Edmund Nyamekye explained that preliminary investigation points to the fact that the driver of the truck was dosing off, and that led to the head-on collision with the Sprinter bus.

He said the accident happened at the outskirts of Offinso, precisely in the Abofour forest area.

Offinso-Abofour road accident Pulse Ghana

13 dead, several injured in fatal accident in Konongo

Thirteen people have been confirmed dead in an accident at Konongo on the Accra-Kumasi Highway in the Ashanti region.

The accident is reported to have been Sunday evening, around 10 pm between an Accra-Kumasi bound bus and a Cargo Truck at Konongo.

An eyewitness who spoke to Starrfm.com.gh said one of the buses attempted to overtake another vehicle which led to a head-on collision with an oncoming bus.

The injured people have been rushed to the Konongo Government hospital for treatment while the deceased have been deposited at the morgue awaiting autopsy.

The dead comprises 9 males and 4 females.

11 killed in Buipe-Tamale road accident

Eleven persons have died in an accident involving a Toyota minibus and a DAF Tipper truck in Alipe near Yapei in the Central Gonja District of the Savannah Region.

The Toyota mini bus with registration number AS 2872-20 is reported to have veered off his lane and collided head-on with the DAF tipper truck with registration number NR 578-F which occurred on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, at about 7:30 pm.

The victims of the accident include nine male adults, a female adult, and a young girl.

Buipe-Tamale road accident Pulse Ghana

5 dead in accident on Kumasi-Bawku road

Five people have been confirmed dead in an accident on the Kumasi-Bawku highway.

The incident occurred on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, when the vehicles crashed into the Nasia bridge in the North East Region.

Thirty-two others are reported to have sustained various degrees of injuries and rushed to the Walewale government Hospital.

Reports stated that the vehicle crashed after the driver was suddenly crossed by a herd of cattle.

It took officers of the Ghana National Service to pull out injured persons from the mangled vehicle.

The accident caused heavy gridlock on the Bolga-Tamale Highway with officers struggling to clear the road for a free flow of traffic.

3 SHS students die in motorbike accident at Adeiso

Three students of the Adeiso Presbyterian Senior High School in the Upper West Akyem District of the Eastern Region died in an accident when three Hyundai H100 commercial vehicles overtaking each other knocked down the students who were riding on a motorbike on the Adeiso road.

The students, one in the third year, second, and a first-year student died instantly.

Over a dozen passengers also sustained various degrees of injuries in the accident.

The victims were rushed to Nsawam Government Hospital for treatment and the bodies of the deceased have been deposited at the Hospital.

Reports stated that the incident occurred hours after the former Member of Parliament (MP) for the area Derrick Ohene Bekoe was also involved in a near-fatal accident on the same road.

Reports stated that the accident occurred at Sukrong on the Asamankese-Adeiso road in the Eastern Region on Sunday, March 21, 2021.

Motorbike accident at Adeiso Pulse Ghana