Haulage train crashes into tipper truck at Takoradi Port

A haulage train on Wednesday dawn crashed into a tipper truck at a rail crossing at the Takoradi Port in the Western Region.

The empty train was on its way to haul manganese from Nsuta in the Tarkwa Nsueam Municipal when it crashed the bucket of the bucket of the tipper truck at about 4:00am at the Gate 10 level crossing.

According to an eye witness Joseph Oppong the train with about 20 empty wagons had crossed the level when it suddenly started reversing.

“The train had crossed the level. So the man at the signal point waved his flag for cars that had stopped for the train to pass to also cross the rail. The truck was the first car and started crossing. But before it could finish the train that had crossed all of a sudden started reversing”.

He continued that “Unfortunately there were other cars at the back of the articulated truck that were also waiting to cross. And in front of the truck was a long tailback of cars also waiting to enter the port through the Gate 10”.

“So because of the blockade at both ends of the articulated truck it could not move and got stuck in the rails”.“The last wagon just run into the truck before the signal man could do anything. Luckily the truck driver on seeing the danger jumped out to safety, he added.

No casualty was recorded.

Passenger services on the newly constructed rail lines from Takoradi to Sekondi via Kojokrom could not run due to the blockade.

Engineers from the Ghana Railways Company Limited are at the accident scene with a crane to lift the derailed wagon and the articulated truck to enable services using the rails resume.