55 killed in road accidents in Tanzania within a week
Tanzania has experienced deadly road carnage recently in the regions of Mwanza, Kagera, Simiyu , Arusha and Shinyanga. PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- The accident brings the total number of reported deaths from such occurrences during the past one week to at least 55, with unverified information pointing to the fact that the number of be higher as some remain unreported
Singida. The spate of road accidents continues to haunt Tanzania with unofficial results showing that the country has lost at least 55 people in grisly accidents within a week.
The latest casualties are five people who were killed on Wednesday when a Tanzanite Bus overturned at Mbwasa in Manyoni District, Singida Region as it was travelling from Mwanza to Dar es Salaam.
Singida Regional Commissioner Stella Mutabihirwa said on Wednesday among the five killed in the accident was Iramba Ward councillor Mwinjuka Mkumbo, 40.
Fifteen more people were injured in the accident and were taken to Dodoma Regional Referral Hospital for treatment.
The medical officer in charge at the health facility, Dr Ernest Ibenzi, said yesterday that 14 of all the people who sustained injuries during the accident and rushed to the hospital for treatment had been discharged.
Four of them were still receiving treatment at the hospital as of yesterday while one had been referred to the Benjamin Mkapa Hospital for further treatment.
“We received several injured persons from the accident scene. We also received a body of one person whose relatives have been found. The four injured persons are responding well to treatment and one, who was complaining of severe headache was referred to Benjamin Mkapa Hospital for specialized treatment,” said Dr Ibenzi.
The accident brings the total number of reported deaths from such occurances during the past one week to at least 55, with unverified information pointing to the fact that the number of be higher as some remain unreported.
On August 16, at least 19 people were killed following a road carnage in Mbeya, with 10 others sustaining severe injuries.
The accident, which involved a lorry, a bus and a car happened at Shamwengo near Inyala Gas Station in Mbeya Region, according to reports confirmed by Mbeya Regional Police Commander Ulrich Matei.
He said that it appeared that the brakes of the lorry carrying a container failed causing it to hit Super Rojas Bus that was headed to Njombe from Mbeya, and the lorry continued to descend hitting a car which led to the death of 19 people and leaving 10 others with severe injuries.
On August 14, four people were killed and 38 others sustained injuries when their truck veered off the road in Handeni District, Tanga Region.
On August 11, six people died after their car veered off at Iguguno Shamba in Mkalama District, Singida region as they travelled from Arusha to Mwanza.
The vehicle veered off and overturned, causing the deaths.
On the same day, one person died while six others were injured when a New Force bus plunged into a ditch as the bus driver tried to overtake a truck in Morogoro Region.
On 10 August, 20 people were killed in a grisly accident in Shinyanga Region in what explains that the country needed to do something to prevent further loss of lives and properties.
