News: At least 24 killed in two separate car accidents in Amhara and Oromia regional states
Etenesh Abera
Addis Abeba, May 30/2018 – Twenty four Ethiopians were killed in two separate car accidents in Amhara and Oromia regional states on Tuesday May 29 and Monday May 28, respectively.
On Tuesday May 29, eighteen people were killed and eight more were injured in a car crash in Ch’ach’a town, North Shoa zone of the Amhara regional state, when the public mid-sized bus they were traveling in collided with another minivan coming from the opposite direction, according to inspector Fikru Wube, road safety officer of the Angolala Werda police bureau. The passengers were returning from a pilgrim at Tsadkane Mariam monastery en route Addis Abeba.
Thirteen of the victims were killed during the accident which happened at around 4:30 PM local time while the remaining five died after they were admitted to hospital. The injured were discharged after receiving medical treatment in near by health posts, according to inspector Fikru.
Similarly, six people were killed on Monday May 28 in Kuyera town, about 18 km before Shashemene city, in west Arsi zone of the Oromia regional state. Redwan Abdella, a physician in Shashemene referral hospital told Addis Standard that the victims were all traveling to Addis Abeba when the minivan they were in collided with a truck in the outskirt of the Kuyera town.
According to Dr. Redwan five of them have died instantly while one died after being admitted to hospital. Among the victims were a mother and her eight year old son. More than a dozen were also injured; some have already left hospital after receiving treatments for light injuries while five more are still in hospital; two of them are in critical condition. The accident happened on Monday at around 9:00 PM local time.
Ethiopia is one of the countries with “an unacceptably large number of road traffic deaths, with approximately more than 25 people per every 100,000 people killed in road crashes,” according to WHO’s 2015 Global status report on road safety. There are about 25, 837 annual road fatalities, according to the same report. AS
