A man has died alongside his two nieces while travelling for his mother’s funeral in the Bono East Region.

The accident occurred on Friday, May 19, 2023, at Enyiresi in the Eastern Region on the Accra-Kumasi highway.

The man, identified as Kofi Gyan, was driving a Hyundai Sonata car with registration number GS 7776-19.

The car is reported to have fallen into a river along the highway when he lost control of the steering wheel in an attempt to avoid a head-on collision with a sprinter bus that had made a wrongful overtaking.

This resulted in the death of the three occupants.

Confirming the incident to Myjoyonline.com, an Assistant Divisional Officer (ADO) Alex King Nartey of the Public Relations Department of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), said the bodies of the deceased, one male and two females, were deposited by officers of the GNFS at the Enyiresi Government Hospital.

According to him, the GNFS received a distress call about the incident at 6:10 am on Friday, and arrived at the scene at 6:33am. He said the three bodies and the car were retrieved at 7:03am using the GNFS' equipment.

According to ADO King Nartey, their preliminary investigations suggest that the car may have crashed on a hard surface since it was severely damaged from the front.

Although the Police Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) is yet to comment on the accident, ADO King Nartey said he suspects the driver of the sprinter whose reckless overtaking caused the accident fled the scene.

He, therefore, appealed to members of the public who may have been on board the sprinter bus to volunteer information to the police that can lead to the driver's arrest.

A group of young men from the community had attempted to retrieve the bodies and the car from the river, but were unsuccessful until officers of the Ghana National Fire Service arrived at the scene.

Kofi Gyan, the Executive Director of Initiators of Change Foundation, a non-governmental organization, is said to be a native of Kwabeng in the Nkoranza South Municipality of the Bono East Region.

A check on his Facebook page showed that he made a post on Thursday, May 18, about the mother’s funeral, before traveling the following day only to die.

In the month of May and April this year, he made several Facebook posts about his mother's demise and funeral arrangements while paying tribute to her.

His 75-year-old mother’s funeral was set for Saturday, May 20, 2023.

His friends and colleagues who are devastated by the shocking news of his passing have been mourning him on his Facebook page.

A further check on his Facebook page revealed images of several prominent personalities he had come into contact with through the activities of his NGO, Initiators of Change Foundation.

He had photos with former President John Agyekum Kufuor and Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia among other prominent personalities.

Myjoyonline.com checks also indicate that the deceased is son-in-law to the Most. Rev. Dr. Robert Aboagye-Mensah, a former Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana.

Kofi Gyan, who was in his late 40s, is the eldest of his siblings and also the bread winner of his family.

He was survived by three children and a wife who's currently working outside Ghana.

His two nieces who died with him are said to be his sister's children. Beatrice Yeboah and the other, only identified as Abena, were aged between 24 and 28.