FIFTEEN people died and seven were injured after a Toyota Coaster bus collided head on with a truck seeking to overtake another vehicle.

CP Awadhi Juma Haji, the Operations and Training commissioner at police headquarters who visited the accident site, said that the cause of the accident was the driver of the truck, T715DZX, traveling from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro. 

He attempted to overtake vehicles ahead of him without exercising caution, he said, urging drivers to be vigilant on the road and adhere to traffic regulations to prevent accidents, as they result in the loss of human lives and public resources.

Dr Daniel Nkungu, the Morogoro Regional Hospital medical officer in charge, confirmed that the death toll rose owing due to the severity of injuries sustained in the accident, which occurred two hours after midnight or thereabouts.

Seven of the injured are still being treated at the hospital, he said, noting that an eight-year-old child was among those who died. The injured person who died in the hospital was being taken to the operating theatre, he said. 

“He had suffered crushing injuries to his leg and abdomen. While we were taking him to the theatre, his heart stopped, and despite our best efforts, we could not save him,” the medic intoned.

Eight people were earlier reported as injured, and 14 bodies brought to the hospital with two of the injured in a critical condition, before another accident victim dies, he said.

One among the injured is Ally Hengo, the Coast Region Journalists' Club chairman and a former reporter for ITV and Radio One, while Masanja Kipariki, who lost a relative in the accident, said the crash occurred while they were traveling from Morogoro to the city.

"In front of us, there was a queue of trucks coming from Dar es Salaam. One of the trucks swerved to the left and collided head-on with us. I was sitting in the front seat next to the driver,’ he said.

When the accident happened, he was thrown to the back, and is incapable of knowing if the driver survived, he narrated.

Adam Malima, the regional commissioner, visited the referral hospital at daybreak to console the injured, appealing to members of the public to go to the hospital to identify bodies of the deceased in case they were travelling and had not shown up.

Saying that some bodies are difficult to identify due to severe mutilation, he regretted habitual negligence by drivers. “It is crucial that drivers take caution when on the road to avoid preventable accidents," he insisted,

Officials said it is believed that the drivers of both vehicles lost their lives at the scene of the crash.