A heartbreaking tragedy has struck the Gurugu community near Tamale after a newly married couple died in a road accident just hours after celebrating their wedding.
The incident, which occurred late Sunday night, June 22, around 11pm, has plunged both families and the wider community into deep mourning.
The couple, whose names are yet to be officially released, had only earlier that afternoon celebrated their wedding ceremony at T Poly Junction, in the heart of Tamale.
As custom dictates, the two were on a motorbike en route to visit the groom’s family and later settle in their new home when the unthinkable happened.
According to eyewitnesses, the motorbike they were riding collided with an unregistered vehicle driven by a group of young Nigerian men near the Sawadogo Fuel Station at Gurugu.
The impact of the crash killed the bride instantly.
The groom, who sustained severe injuries, was rushed to the Tamale Teaching Hospital in a critical condition but was later pronounced dead.
A resident who witnessed the incident posted on Facebook: “Today was their wedding at T Poly Junction. The bride died on the spot while the groom has been taken to hospital under critical conditions.”
A brother of the deceased groom in an interview recounted the tragic road accident at Gurugu.
He described how joyous the ceremony had been in the early hours of Sunday and how his brother had long searched for a wife before finally finding happiness with the bride.
He added that the couple had left their family home after the wedding, riding toward the groom’s rented apartment in Gurugu when their journey was tragically cut short.
“The celebration turned to mourning in just a few hours,” the brother said.
“He had waited so long to find love. And in a flash, everything was gone.”
The bodies of the couple were conveyed to the Tamale Teaching Hospital Morgue in the early hours of Monday, around 2:50am.
The police are yet to release a formal statement on the incident.
However, community members are calling for swift action and the arrest of the occupants of the unregistered vehicle, who are alleged to have caused the fatal crash.
The tragic death of the couple has sparked widespread grief and renewed calls for road safety enforcement, particularly in the Tamale metropolis where motorbike use is widespread and traffic regulations are frequently flouted.
As families prepare for burial rites instead of a honeymoon, Gurugu and its surrounding communities remain in mourning — grappling with the cruel twist of fate that took two newly united souls just moments after their vows.
