Two persons have lost their lives in a fatal road crash at Third Ridge Junction along the Accra–Cape Coast Highway, with five others sustaining varying degrees of injury.

The incident, which occurred in the early hours of Tuesday, April 28, has once again underscored growing concerns over road safety in the Central Region, as authorities renew calls for discipline among motorists, according to AdomNews.

The Central Regional Commander of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), ACFO1 Merinda Mary Atsigah-Mensah, has cautioned drivers to exercise greater care on the roads to curb the rising incidence of accidents. She attributed many of the crashes to indiscipline among road users, describing the situation as both troubling and avoidable.

Personnel from the GNFS Cape Coast Regional Headquarters responded swiftly to a distress call and arrived at the scene to find a collision involving a Toyota Corolla with registration number GW-5769-16 and a HOWO tipper truck with registration number GN-1497-22.

Firefighters worked to extricate the driver of the Toyota Corolla, who had been trapped behind the steering wheel. The victim was rushed to the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.

A second fatality was also recorded, while five other victims were conveyed to the same facility for treatment and further medical management.

Preliminary accounts from eyewitnesses suggest that the Toyota Corolla was travelling from Cape Coast towards Accra when its driver noticed a pick-up vehicle dangerously overtaking and attempting to merge into the lane of an oncoming tipper truck. In response, the Corolla driver reportedly slowed down.

The tipper truck, travelling in the opposite direction, is said to have veered into the outer lane to avoid the overtaking vehicle. However, in an attempt to return to its lane, the driver reportedly lost control, resulting in a head-on collision with the Toyota Corolla.

Authorities have reiterated the need for strict adherence to road safety regulations, as road traffic accidents continue to rank among the leading causes of death in Ghana, despite ongoing efforts by successive governments to improve road infrastructure through dualisation and expansion projects.