At least 20 people have been killed and 22 others injured in a collision between a bus and a truck at the entrance of the town of Dassa Zoumé, in central Benin, according to a provisional balance of the authorities of the African country.
The country’s Minister of Health, Benjamin Hounkpatin, said that it is «too early» to clarify the condition of the victims, as it depends on the degree of the burns, according to Benin Web TV.
The collision, which occurred on Sunday afternoon, occurred between a goods truck and a bus, and caused a fire, the cause of the accident not being known at the moment.
However, according to a witness consulted by the Beninese news portal Daabaaru, «the wheel of the bus on the driver’s side would have burst, so that the driver, having lost control, collided with a truck carrying oranges, which was traveling in the opposite direction».
Government spokesman, Wilfried Léandre, has indicated that the President of the country, Patrice Talon, has sent to the scene the ministers responsible for Transport and Security, as he made known through his Twitter account.
He has also called for a «speedy recovery to the injured,» adding that he «sympathizes with the pain of the families affected.» «The loss of so many lives will not be in vain,» he has assured by promising an investigation «so that this does not happen again,» as this is one of the deadliest accidents on the country’s roads in recent years, according to Radio France International (RFI).
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
