Fifteen people died on the spot and 33 others sustained injuries, when an STC bus and an articulated truck collided head on, at Dompoase near the Komenda-Junction in the Central Region at about 04:00 hours on Thursday.
The bodies of the dead, made up of eight women and seven men, including a soldier and the driver of the Takoradi-Accra bound bus, which had 48 passengers on board, have been deposited at the Central regional hospital mortuary.
The injured are also being treated at the same hospital.
When the GNA in Cape Coast arrived at the scene, it saw that the roof of the STC bus with registration number GR 9033 X, had been ripped off, and the whole of the front badly damaged while the head of the truck had been buried in the mud.
The truck with registration number AS 8103 Y, which was carrying chippings was travelling from Kumasi towards Takoradi.
The GNA learnt that the truck had veered off its lane, and collided head on with the STC bus, and that personnel from the Police and the Ghana National Fire Service had to cut open the bus in order to remove the injured and the dead.
Dr Yaw Ofori-Yeboah the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo- Abrem (KEEA) Municipal Health Director, who was at the scene to help convey the deceased and the injured to the hospital, together with personnel from the National Ambulance Service, commended the three organisations for their prompt response.
Mr Thomas Bismark Boakye, the Western Regional Coordinator of the Road Safety Commission, who was also at the scene, said he suspected that the truck driver must have been sleeping and over speeding at the same time, hence the gravity of the accident.
The Central Regional Police Public Relations Officer confirmed the accident and the number of the dead, and that the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) would conduct investigations to ascertain the actual cause of the accident.
Meanwhile, the Regional Minister, Nana Ato Arthur, Mrs Rose Bio-Atinga regional police commander and Messrs George Frank Asmah and Kofi Boama, Djan, the KEEA MCE and the regional Highways Director respectively, have visited the accident scene as well as the injured in hospital.