General News of Tuesday, 17 February 2009

Source: UPI

66 die, more hurt in 2 Ghana pileups

At least 66 people were killed and dozens more injured in two horrific weekend traffic accidents in Ghana, authorities said.

Both crashes occurred Sunday on the African nation's Kintampo-Tamale-Bolgatanga road, the Ghana Broadcasting Corp. reported Monday.

An estimated 38 people were killed and 56 were injured about 3 a.m. near Savelugud when a tractor-trailer truck collided with a bus, and two other buses ran off the road, The Ghanaian Chronicle reported. The pileup backed up traffic for dozens of other vehicles and it took emergency workers several hours to extricate the victims, the newspaper said.

The newspaper said it appeared one bus loaded with passengers passed the other two buses before colliding with the truck. Both reportedly were traveling at high speed.

The other two buses veered into deep gutters to avoid the other bus and the truck.

In the other accident at Kawampe, about 25 miles north of Kintampo, 28 people died when two buses collided, the Ghana radio network said. It wasn't clear if others were injured in that collision.

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