Horrific accident at Akomadan...15 PERISH...15 Sheep also killed (LEAD STORY, JAN 12, 2011)

FIFTEEN people died on the spot when two Yutong buses collided on the outskirts of Akomadan in the Ashanti Region at about 2 a.m. yesterday.
The accident scene was a bloody sight of scattered dead human beings and sheep, as about 15 sheep being transported from Bolgatanga in one of the buses also died on the spot, with other sheep, numbering about 20, injured and scattered around.
The deceased included the drivers of both vehicles and a young woman and her two-year-old baby boy.
Two of the deceased, including one of the drivers, had their legs chopped off, while others suffered serious head and body injuries.
While volunteers helped to transport the dead to the Nkenkansu Government Hospital, those who were seriously injured were rushed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi and the Holy Family Hospital in Techiman for emergency care.
The situation attracted a large crowd to the hospitals, with many weeping uncontrollably.
Briefing the Daily Graphic on the tragedy, the Officer in charge of the Akomadan Police Station, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Philbert Zuboviel, said the two buses, which were fully loaded, collided in a sharp curve on the outskirts of the town.
The impact was so great that one of the buses, with registration number GN 2673-10, which was heading towards Tamale and with a seating capacity of 25, was completely damaged beyond repair. The majority of the dead were in that bus.
The other bus, with registration number GC 4818 Z, which was heading to Kumasi from Bolgatanga and was carrying passengers and the livestock, crashed into a ditch, killing some of the passengers, including the driver, and the sheep, with many of the passengers sustaining various degrees of injury.
The deceased were yet to be identified as of the time the Daily Graphic reached the Nkenkansu Government Hospital.
ASP Zuboviel said moments after the crash, he organised his men to the scene to rescue the passengers, many of whom were trapped in the mangled buses.
He said it took the volunteers several hours to rescue the injured and rush them to the Holy Family Hospital at Techiman, while the seriously injured were taken to KATH.
ASP Zuboviel said the passengers who sustained minor injuries were, however, treated at and discharged from the Holy Family Hospital.