Senegalese President Macky Sall has declared three days of national mourning, starting this Monday, January 09. Forty people died on the night of Saturday to Sunday in an accident between two buses in Kaffrine.
The accident occurred between two buses near the town of Kaffrine, about 250 km southeast of the Senegalese capital. This is one of the deadliest accidents in the country in recent years. “According to the first elements of the investigation, a bus assigned to the public transport of passengers, following the bursting of a tire, left its trajectory before colliding head-on with another bus coming in the opposite direction, “said the prosecutor of the Republic of Kaolack. President Macky Sall said he was “deeply saddened by the tragic road accident” and declared three days of national mourning starting Monday, January 9.
In a press release, the Senegalese Ministry of Health announced a total of 139 victims, including 35 lifeless bodies found at the site of the accident and 4 people who died in hospital. As for the injured, 52 patients are being treated at the hospital in the Kaffrine region where the accident took place. The rest, suffering from minor injuries, are being treated in the Kaffrine health center and in the local health posts. An interministerial council dedicated to road accidents in Senegal should take place this Monday in order to take “firm measures on road safety and public transport of passengers”. “We will take all the measures that this situation requires, otherwise we will experience the same dramas in the future,” promised Macky Sall.
