Eyewitness recounts deadly Tanga road crash

Dar/Korogwe. An eyewitness yesterday narrated the scenario pertaining to the accident that killed 18 people on the spot and left 11 others injured in Korogwe District, Tanga Region.

However, the number of the dead has risen to 18 after one of the injured died yesterday.

The accident involved the collision of a lorry and a bus carrying a dead body from Dar es Salaam to Kilimanjaro Region, with 26 people on board. In a horrific road accident Friday night, 17 people died on the spot and 12 others were critically injured. A member of the family involved in the accident, Mr Mark Mrema, who lost 14 relatives told The Citizen that he witnessed the accident while he was on a different bus.

He noted that the journey had started well, but as soon as they approached Magila Gereza in Korogwe, he saw the bus swaying before it eventually got to the ground.

“Since I was on another bus behind, it was difficult to see if the vehicle collided head-on with another; instead, we only saw it fall to the ground. When we arrived, we understood that it was a collision,” he narrated. Among those who died in the accident, 14 belonged to the same family, he said.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan mourned the deaths and sent her condolences to the bereaved in a post on Twitter.

“I am saddened by the deaths of 17 people caused by the accident that happened yesterday at 4:30pm in Magila Gereza, Korogwe District, Tanga Region. My condolences go out to the bereaved and all those affected by these deaths. I pray for these brothers of ours to rest in a good place and for the injured to make a quick recovery,” reads the post.

According to information provided by Tanga Regional Commissioner, Mr Omary Mgumba, the accident involved a Mitsubishi Fuso truck, and a Coaster bus carrying a dead body.

The bodies, according to him, were preserved at the Korogwe District Hospital mortuary, where relatives identified the deceased.

The statement said that the cause of the crash was “high-speed and reckless driving by the Fuso driver, who tried to overtake another vehicle before being involved in a head-on collision with the Coaster.”

Mr Mrema narrated that they were in a convoy transporting a dead body for a funeral. The deceased was his uncle, who died on Tuesday, January 31, 2023, in Dar es Salaam.

Mr Mrema said the procession started from Mbezi in Dar es Salaam at Bochi Hospital, where they preserved the body for burial in Moshi, Kilimanjaro Region.

“It’s a shock to the family members. The journey was very smooth from the beginning until we witnessed our people being destroyed by the accident; it is really painful for the family,” he said. When they arrived at the scene, he noted that they tried to save their colleagues before people from the neighborhood and the police arrived.

The Chief Medical Officer of the Korogwe City Council, Ms Salma Sued, disclosed that the names of those who died had already been identified.