Ethiopian Informer
ADDIS ABABA: September 24 (EI) – Deadly traffic accident in Ethiopia’s Amhara regional state’s Dembecha district has left 23 people dead, state-run news agency reported.
The death toll from a collision between a freight truck and medium size public transport buses carrying dozens of passengers on Monday rose to 23 after seven of the seriously injured succumbed to their injuries, state-run Amhara Mass Media Agency reported.
Desalegn Mekuria, Chief Traffic Police Officer, Dembecha district, told reporters that the incident occurred in the early hours of Monday when a freight truck collided with two public transport buses.
Police is presently undertaking investigations on the cause of the traffic accident, according Desalegn.
Despite having one of the lowest per capita car ownership in the world, deadly traffic accidents in Ethiopia are common with blames put on bad roads, flawed driving license issuance system and lax enforcement of road safety.
According to figures from the Ethiopian Transport Authority, some 5,118 people died in traffic accidents in the East African country during the previous Ethiopian fiscal year 2017/18.
The number of people killed and the rate of accidents occurred also registered major increases during the period — the number of people killed increased from 4,500 to 5,118 while a record number of close to 41,000 traffic accidents were registered during the 2017/18 fiscal year, according to the authority.
