Three people – two males and a female – were burnt to death when a saloon car in which they were travelling caught fire minutes after it collided with a truck.

The gory accident occurred at Kunsu Wiawso on the main Kumasi-Tepa highway in the Ashanti Region on Saturday at about 8am.

Heading from the Kumasi direction, the driver of the saloon car, reportedly overtook two vehicles and collided with the oncoming truck, loaded with huge timber logs.

The impact of the crash was said to be so severe that the truck partially ran over the saloon car, killing the driver and the other occupant (a male) who was on the front seat, even before the fire started.

Two women who were trapped in the rear seat of the car were rescued by good Samaritans before the ferocious blaze could claim another victim.

But they had suffered severe injuries. They were rushed to a hospital for treatment but one of them reportedly gave up the ghost on arrival. The other one was still in critical condition as at press time last night.

The driver of the truck with registration number AS 3203-09, escaped unhurt, Richard Karikari aka KK, National Road Safety Committee member, told the paper.

According to KK, four persons were on board the saloon car, registered AW 489-W, who were from Akyiase and going to a funeral at Bormaa. He corroborated what led to the ghastly accident.

He sternly cautioned drivers to avoid wrong overtaking and driving under the influence of alcohol, which he said are major contributory factors to carnage on the road.

KK disclosed that during the first quarter of this year, 40 lives were lost on the road and the number increased to 49 during the second quarter.