Tragic bus crash claims 23 lives in northern Senegal

Twenty-three people died Wednesday when a bus crashed in northern Senegal, President Macky Sall announced on social media.

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“I call for even more caution on the road”, Sall said in a message posted on Twitter.

Earlier, a national fire brigade official and a first responder told AFP that 22 people had died and 52 others were injured.

The accident happened in the village of Ngeune Sarre in Louga region, they said.

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BUS

They did not specify the cause or time of the accident.

Interior Minister Antoine Felix Abdoulaye Diome was on his way to the accident site, a staffer told AFP.

In January, 19 people were killed and 24 injured in a collision in the same area, near Louga.

The previous week, around 40 people died in a bus collision in the centre of Senegal.

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That tragedy, on January 8, prompted a wave of criticism against authorities over the frequency of accidents on Senegal’s roads, and the lack of action taken to prevent them.

The government responded by announcing a long list of measures, including a ban on overnight bus journeys. But transport professionals said that many of the measures were unrealistic.

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Across many countries in Africa, dilapidated vehicles, reckless driving and corrupt law-enforcement officials all contribute to tragedies on the road.

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