A horrific road accident claimed the life of a young man on the afternoon of Saturday, January 3, 2026, in Suame Maakro in the Ashanti Region.
The victim, an ‘okada’ rider believed to be in his 20s, was killed instantly when a heavy-duty trailer fully loaded with soya beans ran over him.
The force of the impact was so severe that the victim’s body was mutilated, leaving residents and onlookers in a state of shock.
According to an eyewitness at the scene, the fatal sequence began when the motorcycle was travelling alongside the long vehicle, a trailer with registration number GT-1963-13.
In a freak mechanical occurrence, a hook on the side of the trailer reportedly snagged the rider, dragging him beneath the wheels of the truck.
Local police arrived shortly after to find a gruesome scene.
The yet-to-be-identified deceased was eventually conveyed to the mortuary for preservation and identification.
The tragedy has reignited a debate over safety standards at the ongoing Suame 4-Tier Interchange construction sites.
Residents who rushed to the scene were quick to point out that the narrow, dusty, and uneven diversions have turned the Suame-Maakro stretch into a hazard for motorists, particularly those on two wheels.
In emotional interviews with OTEC News, locals lamented that this was merely the latest in a series of near-misses and collisions that have plagued the area since the roadwork intensified.
“This is not the first time we have seen dozens of accidents here, but this time around, we are not lucky; a soul is gone,” one distraught resident remarked. “The ongoing construction work has rendered the road very difficult to ply, causing accidents. We hope they complete the work soon to avoid these accidents.”
The accident comes just weeks after angry artisans and traders in the Suame enclave staged protests, blocking roads to demand immediate action on dust pollution and deteriorating road surfaces.
The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) had previously promised to water the roads daily and speed up construction, but for many, these measures have come too late.
Road safety experts have warned that construction zones naturally increase the risk of accidents due to narrow pathways forcing large trailers and small motorcycles into dangerous proximity.
They also mentioned protruding equipment or “hooks” on vehicles, as seen in this incident, become lethal in tight spaces and loose gravel and uneven asphalt patches make motorcycles prone to skidding.
