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22 killed in bus crash in Tunisia

December 2, 2019 at 4:14 am

22 killed as bus overturns in Tunisia on 1 December 2019

Twenty-two people have been killed and dozens injured in a bus accident in Tunisia, the interior ministry announced yesterday.

The ministry added that the bus was travelling through Tunisia’s northern region of Ain Snoussi – a local tourist spot renowned for its mountainous reliefs on the border with Algeria – when it plunged over a cliff.

“The vehicle had fallen into a ravine after crashing through an iron barrier,” the ministry said on Facebook, noting that the bus was carrying a total of 43 Tunisians.

READ: Tunisia calls for serious action in defence of Palestine 

In 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) ranked Tunisia as the second-worst traffic death rate per capita in North Africa, behind war-torn Libya. Experts blamed run-down roads, reckless driving and poor vehicle maintenance for a rise in accidents the following year.

The authorities recognise the scale of the problem but have said the country’s security challenges, including jihadist attacks, have kept them from giving it more attention.

Following the tragic accident, the Tunisian Soccer Federation said it would observe a one-minute silence before all games scheduled on the same day.