A Toyota Voxy minivan carrying eight passengers plunged off the Bechem-Techimantia road at Kwasu on Monday afternoon, killing two and injuring six in a mangled wreck that highlighted Ghana’s persistent road safety crisis amid surging accident rates in 2025.
The accident unfolded around 1:45 p.m. when the vehicle, registration AS 6403-25, veered sharply off the highway, slamming into roadside terrain and crumpling into a twisted heap.
Emergency responders from the Bechem Fire Station, led by Assistant Station Officer (ASTNO) Kwaku Doe, raced to the scene alongside the National Ambulance Service (NAS) and local police, battling the wreckage’s severe deformation to extricate trapped victims using hydraulic cutters and pry tools.
Two occupants—a man and a woman—were declared dead at the site from blunt force trauma, their bodies handed over to authorities for post-mortem. The six survivors, ranging from minor cuts to suspected fractures and internal injuries, were stabilized on-site and ferried to Bechem Government Hospital for urgent care, where they remain under observation.
Preliminary investigations point to possible speeding, driver fatigue, or a mechanical failure—exacerbated by the route’s notorious potholes and heavy truck traffic—as the cause, though forensics are pending.
The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has flagged Ahafo Region for a 20% spike in crashes this year, attributing 70% to human error like overtaking and overloading, with 1,504 fatalities nationwide from January to June alone.
This tragedy echoes a string of deadly incidents on the corridor, including a March 26 head-on collision between Duayaw-Nkwanta and Bechem that claimed five lives in a Toyota RAV4-Kia truck smash, and an August 10, 2025, crash on the Kumasi-Bechem highway that killed two Seventh-Day Adventist church members returning from a camp meeting.
Earlier this year, a nursery pupil was crushed by a log-laden truck near Adugyama on October 28, underscoring the perils for vulnerable road users.
The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) praised the rapid response, which prevented further casualties, but decried the “preventable” nature of such wrecks. NRSA’s Ahafo Coordinator, Ms. Apronti, renewed calls for stricter enforcement against overloading and speeding, vowing intensified patrols with police and stakeholders to stem the tide in 2025.
As families mourn and the injured recover, the incident reignites demands for urgent infrastructure upgrades on the vital Bechem-Techimantia artery, linking Ahafo’s mining hubs to Sunyani and Kumasi.
With over 7,289 crashes logged in the first half of the year, experts warn that without holistic reforms—better roads, vehicle inspections, and driver education—Ghana’s highways will continue to claim lives at an alarming rate
