EIGHT people have died and 12 injured in road accidents in Manyara and Kigoma regions.

George Katabazi, Manyara regional police commander, said that three people died and five others were injured in an accident involving three motor vehicles in the Mogitu slopes in Hanang’ District, Manyara Region.

The accident occurred early yesterday at just after 4:30 early in the morning when a cargo vehicle T 914 CAX hit a car, thus blocking the road. Other vehicles were unable to pass until the traffic police arrived to address the challenge.

When the police officers started to allow vehicles to pass, an Arusha Express passenger bus T162 AGB lost control hitting two other vehicles and a motorcycle.

Two of the three who died there were bystanders anxious over the initial accident and the other was the driver of the car (Toyota Mitsubishi) hit by the passenger bus, he said.

Theo injured were rushed to Tumaini Hospital in Katesh town for treatment, with investigation on the accidents going on, he said, noting that once completed legal measures will be pursued on those responsible.

He reaffirmed the case for punitive measures on reckless drivers violating traffic rules, causing unnecessary accidents.

Philemon Makungu, the Kigoma regional police commander, said that five people died and eight others were injured in an accident involving contractors of the Rural Energy Agency (REA) whose vehicle veered off the road and overturned in Rukoma village in Uvinza District.

The cargo vehicle T 224 BZD (Fuso) belonging to Tropical State Grid Co. Ltd that carries out electricity infrastructure work in rural areas had an accident on Saturday afternoon.

Among the eight injured, three were treated and discharged from hospital, he said, naming them as Saidi Ramadhani (45) the car, Elizabeth Mero (30) the project manager and both residents of Dar es Salaam, as well as Venance Mabula (24), an electrician based in Geita.

Five other injured have been admitted to the Kigoma Maweni Regional Referral Hospital for treatment. These are Hussein Fadhili (24) a project manager based in Tanga, Yasini Athumani (19) a labourer from Uvinza, Mtala Joseph who comes from Mara Region, Victor Joseph (31) from Musoma in Mara Region, along with Claudia Mwilima (31) from Mbeya Region, all of them electrical technicians, he said.

The deceased are Samuel Zakaria (30), Dismas Meshack (21), Juma Bashiru (29) all residents of Uvinza district, Enock Chimanguli (42) from Tanga and Benson Thomas (25) based in Arusha.

Reports show that 80 percent of accidents are caused by reckless driving, 12 percent arise from vehicle mechanical problems, six percent from weather disturbances while only two percent of road crashes arise from road defects.

The global status report on road safety for 2023 issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that road traffic injuries lead to deaths of people aged five to 29 years. “Every year road accidents claim lives of more than 1.19m people, disproportionately affecting the developing countries,” it affirms.