AT least 13 people died on the spot and 18 were injured in a road accident on the notorious slope at Simike area in Mbeya City along the Tanzam highway. SACP Benjamin Kuzaga, the regional police commander, said that the crash came as a truck rammed into a saloon car and a minibus, getting motorcycles and a luggage tricycle into crash.

The accident happened yesterday evening when a truck carrying construction materials, T 979 CVV and its trailer T 758 BEU moving from Uyole area in the direction of Tunduma highway failed to brake and rammed into those vessels killing the 13 people on the spot.  

First hit was a Toyota Harrier, T 120 DEL which lost direction and crashed into a Toyota Coaster, T 167 DLF coming from Tunduma to the city. The truck also rammed into motorcycles and a cargo tricycle loaded with maize bags, he elaborated.

The deaths mostly came from the Toyota Coaster passenger vehicle, dragged to the road trench where the passengers were trapped, some losing their lives and others sustaining injuries, he stated.

The truck driver has been identified, while the police are making a follow up on the other vehicles to determine if he is among the injured or the dead, he said, noting that the Toyota Harrier was badly damaged.

Eye witness Bashiri Mwaluwanda said the driver of the truck managed to avoid some cars and passengers on the slope but finally ended up ramming into others.

The bodies of those who died have been preserved at Mbeya Zonal Referral Hospital, also caring for those injured, he specified.

Experts say that road accidents are commonplace, often the result of badly maintained roads and poor enforcement of traffic laws, with official statistics over the past few years showing that road crashes kill upwards of 9,000 people annually.

World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics show that every year the lives of approximately 1.19m people are cut short in road traffic accidents. Between 20m and 50m others suffer non-fatal injuries, with many incurring a disability.

“Road traffic injuries cause considerable economic losses to individuals, their families, and to nations as a whole. These losses arise from the cost of treatment as well as lost productivity for those killed or disabled by their injuries, and for family members who need to take time off work or school to care for the injured. Road traffic crashes cost most countries at least three percent of their gross domestic product, the UN agency asserts.