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At least 71 people were killed after a truck full of passengers plunged into a river in southern Ethiopia over the weekend.
The truck fell into a river on Sunday evening in the Bona district of Sidama state, around 300km south of the capital Addis Ababa, the regional communication bureau said.
Five passengers were admitted to hospital in a critical state and were under treatment, according to Wosenyeleh Simion, spokesperson for the Sidama regional government.
At least three women were among those killed in the accident, he told Reuters.
Some of the passengers were returning from a wedding ceremony, Simion said, adding that traffic police in the area had reported the truck was overloaded, which likely caused the accident.
Authorities did not reveal how many people were on the truck or provide details about the victims. But it was reported that multiple members of some families were killed.
Pictures shared by the Sidama Regional Health Bureau on Facebook showed a crowd of people trying to pull out the vehicle with the help of ropes. One picture showed the dead bodies lying on the ground covered in blue tarpaulin.
Deadly traffic accidents are common in Ethiopia, where driving standards are poor and many vehicles badly maintained.
At least 38 people, mostly students, were killed in 2018 when a bus plunged into a ravine in Ethiopia’s mountainous north. (Independent)
