AFR: 34 killed in road accident in Burkina Faso
16 Nov 2008 12:42 AMBy Brahima Ouedraogo
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso, Nov 15 AP - A collision between a passenger bus and a truck killed more than 30 people on Saturday in the West African nation of Burkina Faso, state radio reported.
The crash occurred before dawn on a thoroughfare west of the capital, Ouagadougou, the report said. Fire swept through the bus after the crash, and atleast 34 people died and others were injured.
There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash, and officials were not available for comment from the remote accident site.
"It's horrible; the firefighters are still battling the flames in the bus, with bodies inside," Moussa Souna, a local journalist, told AP by telephonefrom the scene nearly eight hours after the crash.
Road accidents are common across West Africa, particularly toward the end of the rainy season when already degraded roads are washed out and potholes fill with water.
Buses are frequently overcrowded and the poorest people often ride to theirdestinations on the top of trucks moving goods to market, which means death tolls from collisions on the region's narrow roads are high.
Ouagadougou is in central Burkina Faso, about 160 km north of the border with Ghana.
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