KHARTOUM, Sudan, Aug. 9 (UPI) — A traffic accident on a highway in Sudan claimed the lives of 19 people, according to officials.
The accident occurred in the Um Al-Hasan area, 149 miles north of Khartoum, on a strip of highway linking the capital to the country’s Northern State.
Xinhua news agency quoted Brig. Ahmed Abu Zaid, commissioner of the town of Al-Daba in Northern State, as saying two passenger vehicles collided while moving in opposite directions.
The dead include 13 men, two children and four women, Xinhua quoted Ahmed Abdin, medical director of the Al-Tadamon hospital in Al-Daba, as saying. Twelve others were injured in the accident and given medical care in Khartoum.
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency notes that Sudan lacks major infrastructure in large areas and ranks at number 128 in the world for roadways. The country has less than 3,000 miles of paved roads, which are poorly maintained.
The country’s ministry of roads and bridges, which tallied about 2,000 traffic fatalities in 2014, attributes the accidents to speeding and overloading of vehicles.
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