11 killed in road accident in Tanzania

Dar es Salaam: At least 11 people were killed in a road accident, with 21 others injured after a truck overturned in the Mbeya region in Tanzania’s southern highlands.

Mbeya regional commissioner Juma Homera on Friday said that the accident occurred around 6:45 a.m. local time (0345 GMT). The truck, carrying 11 people from Mbalizi to Ilembo some 60 km away, plunged into a gorge, Homera told Xinhua in a telephone interview.

According to Homera, the 11 people, after being informed that the truck was defective, pressed the driver to drive on to attend an auction on time, Xinhua news agency reported.

Five of them died on the spot, and six died on the way to the hospital, he said.

–IANS