At least 71 people died on Sunday December 29 in southern Ethiopia after a vehicle plunged into a river.
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The vehicle fell on Sunday around 5:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. UT) in the Gelana River, in the Sidama region, located about 300 km south of the capital Addis Ababa.
The driver of a truck carrying coffee plantation workers and a group heading to a wedding “ lost control on a winding road » while approaching a bridge, Wossenyeleh Semeon, the communications manager for the regional authorities, told AFP. The accident was “ particularly horrible » because the watercourse « contained many large stones “, on which most of the victims crashed, he added.
Of the 76 passengers, 71 are “ so far » died, according to a report Sunday evening from regional law enforcement, which specified that among the victims were 68 men and three women.
“ As it was Sunday, there were not many vehicles (…) in circulation “, explained Wossenyeleh Semeon. “ It was therefore possible that the truck was transporting people beyond its capacity “, he added, specifying that among the victims were four members of the same family. Staff from a nearby hospital quickly arrived at the scene on Sunday, “ helping to recover the bodies of deceased people and also conducting search and rescue operations for survivors », According to this local official.
Of the five people who survived, two were seriously injured and are currently receiving treatment at Hawassa Hospital. Three of them have already been able to leave the hospital, but are suffering from “ mental stress and psychological shock “.
Images released by the Sidama State Health Office on Sunday showed many people surrounding a vehicle, partially submerged in water. Other images shared by the Bureau appear to show bodies on the ground, covered in blue tarps.
The accident is the deadliest in the country in a quarter of a century
In September, a bus veered into a river in the south of the country, killing at least 28 people and seriously injuring 19.
Thirty-eight people were killed in 2018 in northern Ethiopia when the bus carrying them ran off the road. The same year, 18 civilians were killed in a collision between an Ethiopian army truck and a minibus.
In 2004 and 2005, two buses fell into precipices, each killing around 30 people.
Africa is home to only 4% of the world’s automobile fleet, but it will account for 19% of road deaths in 2023, according to a WHO report published earlier this year. And unlike other regions, the number of people killed on African roads increased by 17% between 2010 and 2021.
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The accident of a goods truck carrying passengers caused the death of at least 77 people in July 2017 in the Central African Republic. In March 2000, more than 100 people were killed when two buses collided in Kenya. In July 2002, in Uganda, the collision of a bus with a truck filled with petroleum products caused some 70 victims.