On head-on collision involving two trains at about 9:30 pm of Friday, December 17, 2021, at Wassa Manso in the Western Region has claimed five lives and left at least 12 injured.
Police said four persons – two males and two females – died on the spot while the fifth person died shortly after the collision.
The 12 injured persons are receiving treatment at the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital.
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The following is the account of the Unit Committee Chairman of Wassa Manso, Emmanuel Diaw, of the incident:
The head-on collision involved two trains. One was coming from Nsuta and loaded with manganese while the other one was also coming from Takoradi with empty trucks which had parked at Wassa Manso.
The one coming from Tarkwa we are told lost its brakes. A survivor narrated that when the train got to Amantin they could not stop as the driver told them the brakes have failed.
The one from Takoradi was then stationary. So the train from Tarkwa collided with it and dragged it few meters away. When we rushed to the scene we saw four persons dead with several others injured.
We realised that one of the empty trucks from the stationed trains broke from the link and smashed its own engine. We suspect that might have killed the driver and the mate.
Some of the people had been smashed to the engine.
So we had to seek the assistance of Amandi who came to help remove the trapped with two earth moving machines.