Death toll in Winneba accident now at 40

UPDATE: Victims were mainly foreigners
Winneba (C/R) May 11, GNA-Five more people died on their way to the Winneba government hospital following injuries they received in a fatal accident involving seven vehicles near Winneba on Friday morning, bringING the death toll to 40.

Thirty-five people died on the spot and several others received various degrees of injury, Mr. Nicholas Gasu, Winneba District Police Commander told the Ghana News Agency on Friday.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Gasu said the dead have not been identified and have been deposited at the Winneba government hospital mortuary for autopsy.

He said 28 persons, made up of 17 males and 11 females and a child who are on admission at the Winneba hospital are responding to treatment.

Mr. Gasu said an Abidjan-Lome-Nigeria bound passenger bus heading towards Accra crashed with an articulated truck loaded with cocoa to the Takoradi port, blocking the main Accra-Winneba highway and prevented the free-flow of vehicles.

He said while efforts were being made by some drivers and sympathizers to clear the road, another articulated truckload of heading towards Takoradi, ran into five passenger vehicles including a 207 passenger truck packed at the accident spot, causing serious injuries to some passengers and damaging several cars cars.

The Police Commander who described the accident as very horrible, said some of the victims have been rushed to the Korle Bu and other hospitals in Accra.

Meanwhile several people have besieged the scene to help with relief efforts. He said the police are investigating the cause of the accident.

Foreigners

Forty people believed to be mostly Nigerians, Beninoises and Togolese were killed in a motor traffic accident involving seven vehicles on Accra - Cape Coast road, near Awutu Beraku in the Central Region of Ghana on Friday. Thirty-five were killed on the spot while five others died on the way to hospital.

Many others, who received various degrees of injury, were rushed to the Winneba Hospital and Korle-Bu and 37th Military Hospitals in Accra.