At least 10 dead after plane crashes into minibus in Ghana

ACCRA, Ghana – At least 10 people were killed, after a cargo plane overshot the runway and crashed into a minibus loaded with passengers at Accra airport in Ghana. It remains unknown how many passengers were on the minibus. Witnesses said an estimated number of 27 people were on board the bus.

Reuters reports that the Boeing 727-200 was operated by Nigerian cargo airline Allied Air, according to Doreen Owusu Fianko, managing director of Ghana Airport Company.

“The aircraft collided with a mini Mercedez van resulting in 10 confirmed fatalities,” she said, adding all four crew of the aircraft survived the accident.

According to Reuters, the plane had taken off from Lagos, Nigeria, but failed to stop at the end of the runway after it touched down at Accra’s Kotoka airport just after 7 p.m. (1900 GMT), she said.

A witness saw a badly mangled minivan and ten bodies next to the crashed plane, which had parts of its wing and undercarriage torn off.

The airport perimeter wall near the road was smashed. Ambulances, police and military were at the scene.

A doctor at the airport medical clinic next to the runway said he heard “a loud bang and screeches” and then went outside, where he saw a plume of smoke rising from the accident site.

Operations at the airport remained normal with all flights on schedule, Fianko said. Officials did not say what the plane was carrying.