Eleven people are confirmed dead and 13 others injured after a multi-vehicle crash near the Ofankor barrier on the N6 highway in Accra, the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has confirmed. The collision happened around 4:00 a.m. on Thursday, August 13, 2026, on the express lane between the Ofankor Barrier and the John Teye enclave, on the stretch commuters use heading from Pokuase and Amasaman toward Achimota.
The crash involved a tipper truck and a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter bus, according to GNFS spokesperson ADO1 Alex King Nartey. The Sprinter took the worst of the impact, with several passengers trapped inside before fire service crews from the Amasaman station and GNFS headquarters extricated them.
How the death toll moved from 5 to 11
Early reports out around 6 a.m. put the toll at five feared dead, with GNFS still working to stabilize the
scene. By mid-morning, that number had climbed to 11 confirmed dead and 13 injured, per updates from
MyJoyOnline and Citinewsroom. The injured were taken to Achimota Hospital for treatment. One female victim,
whose legs were reportedly severed in the collision, was among those evacuated by ambulance.
That climb from five to eleven isn't unusual for a crash this size in its first hours - bodies trapped in
wreckage often aren't confirmed until extraction is complete. GNFS said as of around 8:45 a.m. all trapped
victims had been pulled from the mangled minibus.
Where the accounts differ
Coverage doesn't fully agree on how many vehicles were involved. Graphic Online and YEN.com.gh both
describe a four-vehicle crash: two tipper trucks, a minibus, and a tricycle (aboboyaa). Citinewsroom's
update, citing GNFS directly, put the number at seven vehicles - two tipper trucks, two Sprinter buses, two
saloon cars, and a tricycle - involving 24 people in total. Ghanamma and MyJoyOnline instead frame it as a
two-vehicle crash between one tipper truck and one Sprinter bus.
It hasn't been verified which count is accurate, and GNFS itself hasn't issued a single, final vehicle count
as of August 13, 2026. What's consistent is the death toll (11), the injury count (13), and the location.
What caused it - still unknown
DO1 Emmanuel Bonnie, speaking to Channel One News on Thursday, said investigations are underway to establish what led to the collision. No cause - mechanical failure, speeding, fatigue, road conditions - has been officially assigned. Anything claiming otherwise right now is speculation, not confirmed fact.
Traffic and road advisory
The crash shut down sections of the express lane, forcing police to redirect vehicles onto the outer service lane to keep the route moving while emergency crews worked. GNFS has urged motorists coming from Pokuase and Amasaman toward Ofankor and Accra to stick to the outer lane, slow down near the site, and stay alert for rescue workers still on the ground as wreckage clearance continues.
A corridor with a pattern
This isn't an isolated incident for the Ofankor–Pokuase stretch of the N6. Heavy-vehicle collisions -
particularly tipper trucks colliding with commercial minibuses in the pre-dawn hours - have shown up
repeatedly on this corridor over the years, often tied to the mix of slow-moving cargo trucks and fast
commuter traffic on a road that feeds directly into Accra's morning rush. This is a highway segment with a
known accident history, not a one-off
tragedy, and that's a conversation the National Road Safety Authority hasn't publicly reopened yet in
response to this crash.
Updates will be made to this story as GNFS and police release confirmed details on the vehicle count, victim
identities, and the official cause of the crash.