Cape coast: A security man with the Central Regional House of Chiefs, identified as Mr. Awumesi, was crushed to death on Saturday morning by a fully loaded cargo truck at Nkafoa Junction in Cape Coast.
According to Ghana News Agency, the tragic incident occurred when the truck, carrying bales of assorted second-hand items from Accra and headed for Abidjan in C´te d'Ivoire, got involved in an accident at approximately 10:10 hours.
The truck, with registration AW 3475 - 21, tipped over on its passenger side, trapping Mr. Awumesi for several hours. Rescue efforts by the Ghana National Fire Service, Police Service, community members, and eyewitnesses lasted over five hours before the victim's lifeless body was retrieved from under the truck. The accident resulted in a significant gridlock on the Accra-Takoradi main highway.
The truck driver managed to escape unharmed, while his mate suffered minor facial bruises. The driver explained that he lost control of the vehicle while attempting to avoid a sprinter bus that had wrongfully overtaken him on some strips. However, eyewitnesses suggested that the driver, who was reportedly speeding, experienced a brake failure about 300 meters away and veered onto the shoulder of the road to avoid colliding with two sprinter buses, ultimately causing the truck to topple over and crush Mr. Awumesi.
DOII Abdul Wasiu Hudu, the Central Regional Public Relations Officer of the National Fire Service, reported that the rescue team responded to the emergency call at 10:15 hours, arriving at the scene by 10:24 hours. After a prolonged effort involving a towing truck, they managed to lift the cargo vehicle, revealing that Mr. Awumesi had been buried in the sand beneath it. His body was subsequently handed over to the police and taken to the morgue of the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital.
