A deadly accident has claimed three lives along the Kerewan Badala and Nyakoi Taibatu Road in the upper river region
The Thursday afternoon crash involved a passenger vehicle and a tractor travelling in opposite directions, which collided and caused multiple deaths and injuries.
The tractor driver coming from the Nyakoi Taibatu area crashed into the long vehicle that was headed in the opposite direction from Badala with a full load of passengers said to be travelling to Mauritania via faraffeni.
Unconfirmed reports says the death toll could be more than three but Alkamba Times cannot independently verify these claims.
Hospital officials at the Basse District hospital confirmed three deaths with six people in critical condition quickly referred to Bansang Major hospital. Three others are still receiving medical attention at the Basse health centre. So far reports indicate that nine Mauritania nationals and two children including two Gambians and a Senegalese were in the vehicle at the time.
An Eyewitness to the unfortunate crash Modou Lamin Davies told Alkamba Times: ” I witnessed the accident first hand, while I was on my way from Nyakoi to Numuyel for my school outreach activity today. The accident was a bad one. My suspicion is that the tractor and the passenger vehicle were both over speeding and met at a sharp curve and then they collided. The people had to cut the passenger vehicle wide open after it summersaulted to be able to take the people out and then put them inside a mini truck to be transported to the hospital. I am still traumatized by what I saw.”
The accident is a wake up call for road users and drivers as the country witnesses a growing spate of deadly accidents that have claimed more than 10 victims since last week.
