Kaffrine bus crash

{{Infobox event

| date = 8 January 2023

| missing =

| image = {{Location map|Senegal|caption=Crash location|lat_deg=14.43|lon_deg=-15.66|label=Gniby}}

| fatalities = 40

| injuries = 101

| type = Vehicle collision

| location = Sikilo, Gniby, Kaffrine Region, Senegal

| coordinates = {{coord|14.43|-15.66|region:SEN_type:event|display=inline,title|format=dms}}

| time = 03:30

| timezone = GMT, UTC±00:00

}}

File:Senegal N1 road.png.]]

On 8 January 2023, 40 people were killed and 101 injured in central Senegal when two buses collided in Gniby near the regional capital of Kaffrine on the N1 national road.{{Citation | title=More than 30 dead in bus collision in central Senegal | date=8 January 2023 | publisher=FRANCE 24 English | website=Youtube | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDaYVM0EyP4 | access-date=8 January 2023 | archive-date=10 January 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110091801/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDaYVM0EyP4 | url-status=live }}{{Citation | title=At least 40 killed, 87 injured in Senegal traffic accident | date=8 January 2023 | website=Al Jazeera | url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/8/dozens-killed-in-senegal-after-buses-collide | access-date=8 January 2023 | archive-date=8 January 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108112051/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/8/dozens-killed-in-senegal-after-buses-collide | url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=2023-01-08 |title=Senegal bus crash kills 40: President Sall declares mourning period |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-64202369 |access-date=2023-01-09 |archive-date=9 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109045422/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-64202369 |url-status=live }}

Background

Buses, known locally as "schedules," travel at night from region to region in Senegal, and cause many accidents. In October 2020, 16 were killed and 15 injured when a bus collided with a refrigerated lorry near to Malem Hodar.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ktpress.rw/2023/01/rwanda-stands-with-you%e2%88%92kagame-to-the-people-of-senegal/|title=Rwanda Stands With You−Kagame to the People of Senegal|date=9 January 2023}} In a nation of 17 million people, there are 700 traffic fatalities every year, a ratio of 24 per 100,000 people; typical for sub-Saharan Africa (where the rate is 27 per 100,000), but much higher than, for example, the European Union, with just 6 deaths per 100,000 people per year.{{Cite web|url=https://www.euronews.com/https://www.africanews.com/2023/01/10/senegal-bans-night-buses-after-deadly-accident/|title=Senegal bans night buses after deadly accident|website=Africanews}}{{Dead link|date=February 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} This high rate is blamed on "driver error, poor roads and decrepit vehicles."{{Cite web|url=https://www.barrons.com/news/senegal-halts-night-buses-after-crash-killed-40-01673363409|title=Senegal Halts Night Buses After Crash Killed 40|first=Portia|last=CROWE|website=www.barrons.com}}

Africa accounts for about one-fifth of the world's road deaths, despite only containing 3% of the world's motor vehicles. Africa Transport Policy Program, which works on developing transportation policies, has referred to an “epidemic of road fatalities and serious injuries.” More than 270,000 people die in vehicle collisions in Africa each year, and the World Health Organization projects that figure will nearly double by 2030, in part due rapid urbanization.{{Cite news|date= 8 January 2023|title=Bus Crash in Senegal Kills at Least 40|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/08/world/africa/senegal-bus-crash.html|work=New York Times}}

Events

The crash occurred on Number 1 national road near the town of Gniby at 3:15am local time (UTC+00:00). A public bus heading to Rosso suffered a punctured tire and collided with another bus traveling in the opposite direction. The victims were taken to a hospital in Kaffrine.{{Citation | website=TRT World | title=Senegal in national mourning after bus accident kills dozens | url=https://www.trtworld.com/africa/senegal-in-national-mourning-after-bus-accident-kills-dozens-64278 | access-date=9 January 2023 | archive-date=8 January 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108151757/https://www.trtworld.com/africa/senegal-in-national-mourning-after-bus-accident-kills-dozens-64278 | url-status=live }}

Aftermath

President Macky Sall declared three days of national mourning after the accident, to be observed on 9–11 January 2023.{{Citation | newspaper=Washington Post | date=January 8, 2023 | title=40 people killed, dozens injured in bus crash in Senegal | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/40-people-killed-dozens-injured-in-bus-crash-in-senegal/2023/01/08/beb33c6a-8f54-11ed-90f8-53661ac5d9b9_story.html | access-date=8 January 2023 | archive-date=8 January 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108131047/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/40-people-killed-dozens-injured-in-bus-crash-in-senegal/2023/01/08/beb33c6a-8f54-11ed-90f8-53661ac5d9b9_story.html | url-status=live }}{{Citation | vauthors=((Dione, N.)) | website=The Sydney Morning Herald | date=8 January 2023 | title=Senegal declares three days of mourning after dozens killed in bus crash | url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/africa/senegal-declares-three-days-of-national-mourning-after-dozens-killed-in-bus-crash-20230108-p5cb5m.html | access-date=8 January 2023 | archive-date=8 January 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108131644/https://www.smh.com.au/world/africa/senegal-declares-three-days-of-national-mourning-after-dozens-killed-in-bus-crash-20230108-p5cb5m.html | url-status=live }} After a government meeting in Diamniadio, Prime Minister Amadou Bâ announced that night buses would be temporarily banned between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., that the import of second-hand tires would be banned, and that vehicles transporting people and goods would have a speed limit of {{cvt|90|km/h}} imposed.

References

External links

[https://www.sec.gouv.sn/le-gouvernement/monsieur-mansour-faye Ministry of Infrastructure, Land Transport and Opening Up]
{{Citation | website=The Independent | title=Senegal bus crash: Footage shows devastating aftermath of collision that killed at least 38 | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/senegal-bus-crash-kaffrine-fatal-b2258139.html | access-date=8 January 2023 | date=8 January 2023}}
Video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBhKU0fDf5k Kaffrine tragedy: dozens dead in bus collision], Le Monde Afrique.

Category:2023 disasters in Senegal

Category:2023 road incidents in Africa

Category:Bus incidents in Africa

Category:January 2023 in Africa

Bus crash

Category:Road incidents in Senegal