Officials report that a bus and a vehicle crashed in northern Senegal, resulting in at least 19 fatalities and 24 injuries.
Papa Ange Michel Diatta, a colonel with the national firefighting service, said the accident happened early on Monday near Sakal in the Louga region.
According to the state-owned Le Soleil newspaper, the bus swerved to avoid hitting an animal and struck the truck on the Number 2 national route. The injured were transferred to the local hospital Amadou Sakhir Mbaye, it was further said.
President Macky Sall sent “heartfelt condolences” to the families of those killed in the accident, adding that the incident shows “the need to strengthen road safety measures” in the West African country.
The crash of two buses early on January 8 in the central district of Kaffrine, which resulted in 40 fatalities and more than 100 injuries, sent Senegal into grief for eight days before the catastrophe.
In response, the government banned night buses and made it illegal to import old tires, which were thought to be the accident’s contributing factor.
Additionally, it said that cars carrying both persons and cargo would have a 90 km/h speed limit (56mph).
A bus and a refrigerated truck collided in western Senegal in October 2020, resulting in at least 16 fatalities and 15 injuries. The trucks were both traveling in the direction of the capital, Dakar.