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THREE PERSONS died in an accident at the Kpone barrier near Tema yesterday afternoon when a Man Diesel tipper truck with registration number WR 672 Y and a 207 Benz bus with registration number GT 9451 P were involved in a head-on collision. The deceased, whose identities are still unknown, were said to be onboard the Benz bus. People at the accident scene who claimed to be eyewitnesses, however, put the death toll at five even though they could not mention the gender of the five persons they claimed died in the fatal accident. The accident caused heavy vehicular traffic on both sides of the road as policemen from the Tema Regional Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) found it difficult to control motorists. Daniel Ansong Denkyi, the Tema Regional MTTU Commander, told DAILY GUIDE that he received a phone call from the Kpone Police Commander informing him of the accident. When the police team arrived at the scene, three persons, one female and two men, were found dead. The deceased and the other passengers who were onboard the Benz bus were all rushed to the Tema General Hospital. Superintendent Denkyi explained that the accident occurred when the Benz bus tried overtaking a taxi which had stopped in front of a faulty articulated truck with registration number AS 2364 V to allow the tipper truck which was coming from the Dawhenya side of the road towards Tema to pass. The Benz bus, which was heading to Ada from Ashaiman, in the process, collided with the tipper truck just around the same place where the faulty articulated truck was parked. �Perhaps, in a rush to reach his destination, the Benz bus driver tried driving past the taxi and the end result is what we have just witnessed this afternoon. Three persons are dead, one of them a woman,� Superintendent Denkyi stated. The driver of the articulated truck, Jacob Ampofoh, denied any wrongdoing. �My mate was standing right there after we realized that one of the tyres had developed a problem slowing any vehicle that was coming our way and had actually signaled a taxi driver which stopped to allow the tipper to pass when suddenly the driver of the Benz bus tried to overtake the taxi and finally ended up colliding with the tipper,� Ampofoh remarked, adding that he had just moved out of a customs bonded warehouse loaded with rice which was supposed to be sent to Burkina Faso. Some eyewitnesses criticised the driver of a double-cabin pick-up which belongs to the Ministry of Health. They alleged that the pick-up arrived at the accident scene moments after it had occurred. The driver was said to have declined to convey both the injured and the deceased to the nearest hospital, explaining that he did not want blood stains in the pick-up which belongs to the Ministry of Health.