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Agence France-Presse

The death toll from a road accident in southern Ethiopia has risen to at least 71 after a vehicle carrying a wedding party veered into a river, a local official said on Monday.
The lorry careered into the water at around 5.30pm on Sunday, some 300km (180 miles) south of the capital Addis Ababa in Sidama state.
The Sidama Police Commission Traffic Prevention and Control Directorate put the death toll “so far” at 68 men and three women.
“The accident was especially horrific as the river had a lot of big stones, so most passengers, including the driver, were killed due to the impact,” Wossenyeleh Simon, an official with the regional communications department, told Agence France-Presse.

“Among the deceased are four people from the same family,” he said.
He said the driver had lost control of the “freight truck” – which was carrying 76 people, including those heading to the wedding and day-labourers – when trying to turn a tight bend ahead of a bridge.
“It was possible the truck was carrying people beyond its capacity as there were a scarce number of passenger vehicles operating during that day,” he added.
Blurred images shared by the health bureau showed a mass of people surrounding the vehicle, partially submerged in water, with many ropes attempting to help pull it from the waters.
Other images shared by the bureau appeared to show bodies, some covered in blue tarpaulin, lying on the ground.
Wossenyeleh Simon said staff from a nearby hospital were quickly on the scene on Sunday, “helping retrieve the bodies of the deceased and also conducting search and rescue operations for survivors”.

Of the five individuals who survived, two sustained serious injuries and were receiving care at Hawassa Referral Hospital.
He added that three people had already been discharged, although they were suffering from “mental stress and psychological [shock]”.
Road accidents are common in Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous nation, where roads are often poorly maintained.
Earlier this year a bus swerved into a river in southern Ethiopia in Wolaita leaving at least 28 people dead and 19 others seriously injured.
At least 18 civilians were killed in 2018 when an army truck crashed into a minibus in the country’s north.
And in 2004 and 2005, two buses fell off steep cliffs in the mountainous country, each accident killing some 30 people.
Despite having the fewest roads and cars of any region the African continent has the largest ratio of vehicle deaths, often a result of poor infrastructure, scant rescuers and old cars.
A lorry crash in the Central African Republic in July 2017 killed 77 people, mostly traders heading to a nearby market.
In March 2000, more than 100 people died when two buses collided in Kenya.
And in July 2002 a minibus and fuel tanker collision in southern Uganda claimed 70 lives.
Home to only around four per cent of the world’s automobiles, Africa accounted for 19 per cent of road deaths last year, according to a World Health Organization report earlier this year.
It also found that the continent was the only region where road deaths increased between 2010 and 2021 – up 17 per cent.


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Most passengers, including the driver, were killed due to the impact. Photo: AP

The lorry that fell off a bridge. Photo: AP

People try to recover the lorry. Photo: Sidama National Regional State Health Bureau via Xinhua

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The accident occurred when an overcrowded lorry that was carrying wedding guests plunged into a river


The accident occurred when an overcrowded lorry that was carrying wedding guests plunged into a river.


World Health Organization (WHO)