TETE, MOZAMBIQUE– Thirteen Ethiopian citizens died and a further 12 were injured in a road accident on Saturday in Tsangano district in the western Mozambican province of Tete, eye-witnesses say.
The spokesperson for the Tete provincial police command, Lurdes Ferreira, confirmed the accident but said the police weere informed that 12 Ethiopian citizens, not 13, had died.
The accident occurred in Chiandame locality when a large truck carrying the Ethiopians, believed to be illegal immigrants, overturned.
The truck was also carrying bales of tobacco belonging to the Mozambique Leaf Tobacco (MLT) company, which it was taking to the MLT processing facility in Tete City. The truck was travelling from Angonia district, on the border with Malawi, to Tete.
The truck was apparently giving the Ethiopians a lift to Tete, and from there they were likely hoping to continue their journey to South Africa.
Mozambique has become a corridor for migrants from the Horn of Africa who dream of a better life in South Africa.
When the truck overturned, the driver fled, leaving the Ethiopians — dead and injured — lying amidst the bales of tobacco.
Tete police spokesperson Ferreira, said the police are looking for the driver. The cause of the accident has yet to be determined, but Ferreira suspects the truck was driving too fast.
Ferreira thought 12 of the truck’s occupants, and not 13, had died. I confirm the accident but we were told that 12 Ethiopian citizens died. Another 12 were injured, two of them seriously.
The injured and the corpses have all been taken to the Ulongue Rural Hospital in Angonia, she added.
Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK