At least 53 dead in Ghana road accident: police

At least 53 people lost their lives Wednesday night when a bus they were travelling on collided head-on with a cargo truck near Kintampo, 186 km north of Ghana's second largest city, Kumasi, police have confirmed.

Regional Police Commander Maxwell Atingane told local radio stations Thursday that 23 others, who got severely injured, are receiving treatment at Kintampoo Government Hospital.

Atingane said one injured passengers had told the police that the bus had developed a faulty brake when it got to Techiman, about 62km from the crash site.

"The driver of the bus stopped to fix the problem, but the mechanic who came to work on the vehicle failed to solve the problem," said the passenger.

He said the driver, who was determined to reach Tamale, continued the journey with the faulty brakes, and on reaching a sharp curve at Kintampo, the brakes failed and rammed into the cargo truck, which was on its way from Burkina Faso to Accra.

Reports said the locals worked hand-in-hand with the security services to rescue survivors or retrieve bodies. Enditem