Thirty eight people died and about 80 were wounded in central Senegal after two buses collided in the early hours of Sunday, according to statements by President Macky Sall and local officials.
The crash, one of the deadliest in the West African country’s recent memory, was on one of the main east-west arteries near the town of Kaffrine, about 220km (137miles) southeast of the capital Dakar.
In a tweet, Sall says he is “profoundly saddened” by the accident and announced 3 days of mourning starting on Monday.
The accident occurred after the tyre of one passenger bus burst, sending it into the path of an oncoming bus says a statement from the area’s local prosecutors.
Footage from the scene shared online shows two white buses, their mangled fronts entwined. Debris was strewn across the narrow road.
Road accidents are common in Senegal, where large trucks and buses, often decades old, overburdened and listing, hurtle down two-lane highways pitted and rutted by overuse.
In 2017, 2 buses collided, killing 25 people, including some heading to a religious festival.
The crash, one of the deadliest in the West African country’s recent memory, was on one of the main east-west arteries near the town of Kaffrine, about 220km (137miles) southeast of the capital Dakar.
In a tweet, Sall says he is “profoundly saddened” by the accident and announced 3 days of mourning starting on Monday.
The accident occurred after the tyre of one passenger bus burst, sending it into the path of an oncoming bus says a statement from the area’s local prosecutors.
Footage from the scene shared online shows two white buses, their mangled fronts entwined. Debris was strewn across the narrow road.
Road accidents are common in Senegal, where large trucks and buses, often decades old, overburdened and listing, hurtle down two-lane highways pitted and rutted by overuse.
In 2017, 2 buses collided, killing 25 people, including some heading to a religious festival.
