One person has been rescued after being trapped beneath a fuel tanker following a head-on collision involving a tanker truck and a KIA Rhino at Lingbinkura on the Buipe-Tamale highway in the Savannah Region.

The accident occurred on Sunday, June 8, prompting a swift response from personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS).

According to a statement issued by the Savannah Regional Public Relations Officer of the GNFS on Wednesday, June 10, the Buipe Fire Station received a distress call at about 9:54 a.m. from Station Officer II Mohammed Abubakari Sheriff, reporting the incident at Lingbinkura.

Following the alert, a fire prevention and road extrication team led by Leading Fireman Owusu Isaac was immediately dispatched to the scene at 9:57 a.m. aboard pickup vehicle FS 811, driven by Assistant Station Officer Ahmed Baki Kamara.

The team arrived at the accident scene at 10:07 a.m. and found that a tanker with registration number GN 4904-17 had collided head-on with a KIA Rhino bearing registration number AS 4243-25.

Fire officers observed that one individual had become trapped beneath the tanker as a result of the crash. Using a hydraulic spreader, the crew successfully extricated the victim and handed him over to the police for further attention.

The statement indicated that the tanker was traveling from Buipe towards Wa and was carrying two occupants. It was loaded with 54,000 litres of diesel at the time of the accident.

The KIA Rhino, on the other hand, was travelling from Garu towards Kumasi with five people on board. The vehicle was transporting 19 cattle and six goats.

Preliminary investigations by the fire service attributed the cause of the accident to an overtaking manoeuvre by the driver of the KIA Rhino.

Authorities are expected to continue investigations into the circumstances surrounding the crash.