At least 20 people had been confirmed dead and dozens injured when two passenger buses collided head-on around Konongo Odumasi, near Kumasi, Ghana's second largest city, about 270 km north-west of the capital, local radio stations reported here on Thursday.

The accident occurred at about 3 a.m. local time and fire men had to saw through the mangled vehicles to retrieve the dead bodies many of who were dismembered, said eye witnesses.

The Konongo Divisional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit, (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service, ASP Augustine Mensah confirmed the accident to local media via telephone.

According to Sampson Lardy Ayenini, a correspondent of Joy fm, a local radio station, 12 critically injured people had so far been transferred from the Konongo Odumasi district hospital to the Okomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi, where one of the injured had also been pronounced dead on arrival.