Road accident claims 13 lives in Ghana

By Enoch Fiifi Forson

ACCRA, Ghana (AA) - Police in Ghana confirmed on Monday that 13 people died and 11 others were hospitalized after a road accident in the country's second-most-populous region.

The deadly accident happened on Sunday night at about 9.40 p.m. local time (2140GMT), near the southern town of Konongo in the Ashanti region, said police.

Nine men and four women were killed, with their bodies sent to a local hospital for autopsy, police added.

The incident involved a bus and truck going in opposite directions on the road between the national capital Accra and the city of Kumasi, which is also the regional capital of Ashanti, according to local police official Paa Yeboah.

Yeboah told local news website Citi News that the bus was not full and that it was carrying 26 people including the driver and mate.

"There was a truck ahead of the bus and in an attempt to overtake, it crashed into the other at the front part and both vehicles fell into a ditch. Thirteen people died on the spot and about 11 others were injured," he added.

Road accidents are a major problem in the West African country, with nearly 1,000 people dying this year alone.

Experts have blamed the lack of two-way highways between the country's major cities.