Road Crash Kills 15 People in Guinea

At least 15 people, including 10 children, have died in a road accident in central Guinea after a passenger vehicle collided with a semi-trailer truck, authorities said.

The crash occurred at about 1:00 a.m. local time on Monday near the town of Mamou on a winding section of the highway, according to Guinea’s civil defence agency.

Officials said the passenger vehicle was carrying 16 people, most of them students travelling home for the holiday, when the collision occurred.

Houdy Bah, the regional health director for Mamou, said the bodies of all 15 victims were taken to the regional hospital. Those killed included five boys, five girls, three men and two women, all from the Labe prefecture.

Civil defence officials said one passenger survived the crash and was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Oumar Rafiou Bah, speaking on behalf of the bereaved families, said he lost his brother’s wife and three of his children in the accident. He added that several of the victims were members of the same extended family.

Relatives were preparing to bury the victims in Mamou as authorities began an investigation into the cause of the crash. Officials have not yet released findings on what led to the collision.

SOURCE: AFP