Horror crash kills 71 people including wedding guests trapped in truck underwater
A huge car crash caused devastation with whole families wiped out after being transported to another location during a wedding, with the current death toll at a whopping 71
Dozens of people have been killed after a truck carrying wedding guests crashed while returning from a celebration.
The tragic traffic accident saw a huge collision that has claimed the lives of 71 people, after a truck full of passengers crashed as it struggled to manoeuvre difficult road conditions. It was trapped underwater, meaning locals had to wade in to try and rescue victims. Originally, the truck containing the passengers was deployed by a wedding party, transporting guests from one venue to another.
Currently, 71 people have died, but five passengers are also in critical condition in hospital at the time of writing. The vehicle, said to be overloaded by local traffic police, was carrying guests returning from a wedding celebration. It is thought the death toll includes 68 males and three females.
The truck was travelling along a road with many bends when it approached a river. In a horrifying turn of events, it plunged into the water with the passengers trapped onboard.
The incident occurred at the Gelan bridge in Bona Zuria Woreda, Sidama, Ethiopia, as reported by NeedToKnow. The traffic accident happened on December 29.
Images show people surrounding the submerged truck while attempting to pull passengers from the wreckage. Wosenyeleh Simion, spokesperson for the Sidama regional government, told Reuters that 68 men and three women were killed. "Five are in a critical condition and taking treatment at Bona General Hospital," he said.
Due to the horror incident, some families had lost multiple members as they all got onto the truck together, he said, adding traffic police in the region had reported the truck was overloaded. Current theories suggest this was the reason for the crash.
Sidama state is in the south of Ethiopia, some 300 kilometres south of the capital Addis Ababa. The Regional Health Bureau for the area said earlier on Facebook that "a car accident has claimed the lives of 66 people so far".
"Four injured passengers are receiving medical treatment at the Bona General Hospital," it added.
Some images from the scene have been released, which include a group of people gathered around the scene of the accident. While most of the images are blurred, it is clear there is blue tarpaulin on the ground which is thought to be covering the bodies of some of the victims who passed away.
Authorities have expressed their condolences to the families of the deceased and said there would be more information to be followed in due course.