A tragic road accident in central Guinea has claimed the lives of at least 15 people, among them 10 children, after a passenger vehicle collided with a semi-trailer truck in the town of Mamou during the early hours of Monday.
Authorities said the crash occurred at about 1:00 a.m. local time on a winding section of the road.
The vehicle, which was carrying 16 passengers, including schoolchildren travelling for the holiday, was involved in the fatal collision, leaving only one survivor.
Regional Health Director for Mamou, Houdy Bah, confirmed that the victims’ bodies were taken to the regional hospital following the accident.
“The Mamou regional hospital received 15 bodies following this accident,” Bah told the press.
He said the victims included five boys, five girls, three men and two women, all from the Labe prefecture. Civil defence officials said the only survivor sustained critical injuries and was rushed to hospital for emergency treatment.
The tragedy has devastated the victims’ families, many of whom lost several relatives in the same accident.
“I personally lost my brother’s wife and three of his children in this tragedy. The other victims also belong to the same family,”Oumar Rafiou Bah said.
He added that the condition of the bodies made it impossible to transport them back to their home area.
“Given the condition of the bodies which were literally crushed by the truck repatriating them is impossible. We are therefore preparing to bury them here (in Mamou),” he said.
Authorities have launched investigations to establish what caused the collision and whether any traffic or mechanical factors contributed to the disaster.
The latest accident has once again drawn attention to road safety challenges in Guinea, where fatal crashes occur frequently due to poor road conditions, ageing vehicles and dangerous driving practices.
The risks are often heightened during periods of heavy rainfall, increasing concerns over the need for improved transport infrastructure and stricter enforcement of road safety regulations.
