53 die in Ghana bus crash, 23 hospitalised

 

Fifty-three people have died in Ghana after a bus crashed into a truck on Wednesday.

The Metro Mass Transit bus collided head-on with a truck carrying tomatoes near the town of Kintampo.

A Regional police chief Maxwell Atingane said many of the passenger died at the scene of the accident.

The accident is believed to be one of the worst in the country in a long time. Police said investigation into the cause of the accident is on-going.

Surviving passengers told the police that the bus had been experiencing brake problems, Joy News reports

At least 23 people are being treated at a local hospital.

The bus was travelling north from Kumasi, the second largest city after Accra, the capital. Emergency services are said to have worked for hours to try to free passengers trapped in the wreckage.

On Twitter, President John Mahama offered condolences “to those who lost loved ones.”