Seven persons, including a child, were burnt to death when a taxicab on which they were traveling from Kumbungu to Tamale collided head-on with another taxicab from Tamale at Nabaane last Saturday.
Six others sustained various degrees of injury.
One of the taxis, with registration number GE 7496 Y, caught fire immediately after the collision on the Tamale-Kumbungu road and all its occupants were burnt to death.
According to the police, the taxi caught fire when its gas cylinder in the boot exploded.
The bodies of the deceased have been released for burial according to Islamic customs and traditions, after they had been certified by a medical doctor.
Deceased
The police could not provide the names of the deceased persons as their bodies had been burnt beyond recognition.
The accident is said to have occurred when the taxi from Kumbungu overtook a tipper truck on the road but collided with another taxi because the road was dusty and visibility was very poor.
The Northern Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mr Ebenezer Tetteh, who confirmed the accident to the Daily Graphic, explained that the taxicab, with registration number GE 7496Y from Kumbungu collided head-on with another taxicab with registration number GR 4860 U, which was coming from Tamale.
ASP Tetteh added that the driver and the five passengers on board the vehicle from Tamale sustained injuries.
They were rushed to the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) where they are receiving treatment.
Meanwhile, some taxi drivers at the Kumbungu Lorry Station in Tamale, in an interview, said the taxi that caught fire used Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) and the gas cylinder in the boot of the car exploded, which resulted in the fire burning the driver and the six passengers.
Account by taxi drivers
According to them, the collision occurred when the taxi from Kumbungu overtook a tipper truck on the road, but as a result of the dusty nature of the road could not see the other vehicle which was coming from Tamale.
They said although the Tamale-Kumbungu road was still under construction, there was the need for the contractor to fast-track the work to reduce the danger and the health risk posed by the road.
Appeal by personnel of MTTD
Meanwhile, personnel of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service in Tamale have appealed to drivers plying the Tamale-Kumbungu road to be cautious and avoid speeding, since portions of that road were still under construction.
---
Source: Graphic.com.gh
