Following the serious accident that occurred last Sunday between a bus and a truck in Benin, the government confirmed this Wednesday after the Council of Ministers, the toll of 20 dead recorded on the day of the tragedy. He also announced radical measures to fight against excesses on Beninese roads.
With our correspondent in Cotonou, Jean-Luc Aplogan
On the causes of the accident, the first reports implicate the driver of the bus. Investigations are ongoing and four officials from the transport company that owns the bus are in custody.
They are heard by a commission of inquiry which should deliver its conclusions in 8 days. The government orders the Keeper of the Seals to use it to initiate appropriate prosecution.
On the basis of the reports of the services of the State, the council of ministers held this Wednesday specifies the circumstances of the deadly head-on collision. Before the fatal impact, there was a burst of the front left tire of the bus. According to the government’s account, the driver was driving at high speed.
Striking detail, the same day and shortly before the accident at the exit of the city of Parakou, said driver was fined for speeding.
First measures announced, the intensification of road checks. Patrice Talon asks to accelerate the reforms in progress, the professionalization of the transport sector, the obligation to now put vehicles on the roads to standards and the forthcoming adoption of the national road safety plan.
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