Nine dead, 19 injured in Eid morning crash

Photo: Thobias Mwanakatwe

A Lujiga Express bus. T 315 CXX which hit a cargo truck parked on the roadside after a breakdown at Malendi in Iramba District, Singida Region at dawn on Tuesday where nine people died and 19 others injured.

 By Guardian Correspondent , The Guardian 

NINE people died and 19 others suffered serious injuries after a Dar es Salaam to Mwanza bus hit a lorry parked on the roadside in the wake of a breakdown.

Suleiman Mwenda, the Iramba district commissioner, said in in an interview yesterday that the accident occurred at around 4:30am at Malendi village, Mgongo ward in the district.

Daniel Paul, the acting district medical officer, updated information on the bus, T 3150 CXX Lujiga Express was coming from Dar es Salaam en route to Mwanza.

Those who lost their lives were six men and one woman whose bodies were being preserved at Igunga district hospital in Tabora Region while two others died later among those injured.

The injured were hospitalized at Iramba district hospital, Kiomboi and others at Igunga district hospital for urgent treatment, the DC noted, elaborating that a district defence and security team arrived at Malendi.

They saw a lorry parked on the roadside, also en route to Mwanza from Dar es Salaam, where the bus hit it from behind, with the impact causing deaths and injuries.

He did not mention names of those who died, affirming that this was being ascertained by the police.

In November last year, a horrific bus-train collision in Dodoma claimed 13 lives and left 32 others seriously injured at a highway spot in Manyoni, Singida region.

The bus operated by Ally’s Star Co. collided with a freight train at a railway intersection in the wee hours of the morning, November 29, 2023.

Authorities have on several times urged motorists to exercise caution and adhere to traffic rules to avoid disasters, the DC intoned.