Tanzania: 29 school children died in a bus crash

Karatu: More than 32 killed in a school bus accident on Saturday in northern Tanzania. At least 29 were the students, apart from two teachers and a driver.

“We lost 29 students and two of our staff, and the driver died too,” said Mushi, director of the Lucky Vincent Primary School located in the northern city of Arusha, where the children studied. There were 12 boys and 17 girls of age between 12 and 13, reported ht.

“The accident happened when the bus was descending a steep hill in rainy conditions,” Arusha regional police commander Charles Mkumbo informed. “We are still investigating the incident to determine if it was caused by a mechanical defect or human error on the part of the driver,” he added.

The accident happened in the morning at around 9:30 am at Karatu district. The children were on their way to visit another school, Mkumbo stated.

Tanzania has a poor road safety network, which results in many road accidents every year. More than 11,000 people were killed in road accidents in Tanzania between 2014 and 2016, according to the government data.