Driver dies after being trapped in a truck with bags of cashew nuts

Firefighters from the Ejisu Fire Station were on Sunday, 14 May 2023, dispatched to respond to a twin accident and fire incident involving a Man Diesel Truck with registration number GA 5246 - 10 at Juaso Water Works in the Asante Akim South of the Ashanti Region.

According to the Fire Service, the dispatch from Ejisu Fire Station was due to an out-of-commission Konongo Fire Engine which could have gotten to the incident scene within 10 minutes to save the situation if it were to be functional at the time of the incident.

The Crew got to the twin incident scene and after a quick assessment, found that the affected Man Diesel Truck was scattered at the scene due to impact of the crash.

The driver’s mate, Mutala Yussif, 16 years, had escaped unhurt after the crash but the driver of the affected Man Diesel Truck, Sumaila Ibrahim, 36 years, was found trapped in the head compartment of the truck and badly burnt while about 500 bags of cashew nuts were on fire.

The firefighters doused the raging fire, retrieved the badly charred body of the deceased driver and handed it over to the Juaso Police for preservation and further investigation. The Man Diesel Truck and its contents also suffered fire damage.

According to the driver’s mate, a car wrongfully overtook their Tema-bound Man Diesel Truck which forced the driver to veer off its lane to save the overtaking car. The driver of the Truck then lost control to hit the pavement of the steel bridge causing great friction between the trailer and the metal rails of the bridge and as a result, the truck somersaulted and landed on the shoulder of the road and in a nearby bush with scattered parts.

Preliminary investigation showed that sufficient sparks from the trailer’s impact with the steel bridge caused the fire which gutted the rear of the trailer and also set the 500 bags of cashew nuts in the trailer alight.

The fire then spread quickly and affected the head compartment to burn the deceased driver who got trapped and could not escape the fire.