More than 70 die in Ethiopia wedding party tragedy as truck plunges into river

Locals attempt to move the wreck of the truck from the river. Photo / Sidama National Regional State Health Bureau

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.

The truck careered into the water about 5.30pm local time on Sunday time some 300km 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 because of the impact,” Wossenyeleh Simon, an official with the regional communications department, told AFP.

“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 that staff from a nearby hospital were quickly on the scene, “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 currently receiving care at Hawassa Referral Hospital.

He added that three 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 global 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 4% of the world’s automobiles, Africa accounted for 19% of road deaths last year, according to a World Health Organisation report earlier this year.

It also found that the continent was the only region where road deaths increased between 2010 and 2021 — up 17%.

— Agence France-Presse