Six persons, including a four-year-old boy, have died after the vehicle in which they were traveling, was involved in an accident on the Odweanoma Mountain at Kwahu in the Eastern Region, on Tuesday evening.
The six were returning from a funeral they attended last week at Forifori in the Afram Plains District, when the Hyundai truck with registration number GE 5638- 19, had a brake failure, while descending from Atibie to Nkawkaw.
The car somersaulted several times in the process.
The situation caused a gridlock on the stretch, but the swift response of the Kwahu West Ghana National Fire Service, led by Divisional Officer Grade 3, Kwakye Addo, managed to tow the vehicle from the middle of the road.
The Nkawkaw Commander of the Police Motor Traffic and Transport Department, MTTD, DSP Foster Asante, who spoke to journalists, advised drivers, particularly first time users of the road who are not familiar with the terrain, to seek assistance from other drivers when approaching the mountains.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the driver’s brakes failed, and in an attempt to prevent the vehicle from falling off into the ditch, he tried to use the concrete wall, but unfortunately, the vehicle somersaulted several times, and in the process we lost those lives”.
“Our advice to drivers who are not familiar with the mountainous route is that they should just ask drivers in Nkawkaw for assistance when they want to climb, or call on drivers in Mpraeso to help them descend. They can use the Obo stretch if they feel the Atibie route is very steep, and when they do we can avoid these accidents”.
The bodies of the deceased have been deposited at the Atibie Government Hospital mortuary.
This adds to the numerous accidents that have occurred already this year, and taken many lives, while leaving several others injured.
1,000 persons killed in road crashes from January to April 2021 – NRSA
Road crashes have killed more than 1,000 people in the country from January to April 2021.
This was disclosed by Mrs. May Obiri Yeboah, the Director-General of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) on Thursday, May 20, 2021.
She said last year, 2,500 people died from road crashes, adding that the figure is the highest since 1991.