Sudan: Eight dead in North Kordofan horror smash

Eight people were killed outright and one was seriously injured in a horrific traffic accident, when a vehicle transporting them overturned in North Kordofan in Sudan on Thursday.

The accident occurred on the road connecting El Obeid, capital of North Kordofan, with Bara locality. Initial investigations show that the vehicle overturned after the driver apparently became drowsy, while driving at excessive speed, according to reports by the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA). It confirmed that eight people died at the scene, while another was injured and transferred to hospital in serious condition.

The bodies of the dead were transferred to the mortuary in El Obeid. SUNA list them as Driver Awad Hamed, and passengers Mohamed El Ameen Mousa, Omar El Nour, Mustafa Gamaallah, Um Khiyan Ismail, Um Azeen Mohamed, Um Salama El Murad, and Mazen Hamed.

Many roads and highways in Sudan are not wide enough for ‘intercity’ traffic, with frequent laybys to allow vehicles to pass one another. Maintenance (on both roads and vehicles) is often long overdue.

In a traffic accident in the Khashm El Ghirba area in Kassala on the afternoon of July 5, 21 people died and others were injured.

A listener told Radio Dabanga that the victims were on a bus heading from Kassala to El Gedaref before it collided with a lorry, killing 21 people on the spot and injuring others.

On April 5, 14 people were killed and others injured in a bus and a tractor collision in the El Abanusa area on the road linking El Hammadi with El Obeid.

Witnesses reported that a bus carrying passengers coming from El Fula, capital of West Kordofan, collided with a tractor truck, which led to the death of 14 people. Others were injured, some in critical condition.

The sources said that the police in the area rushed to the scene and transported the wounded to El Obeid for treatment.