Road crash in Senegal kills 20

Road crash in Senegal kills 20 people and injures dozens others.

A collision between a bus and a truck kills 20 people in Senegal, as the authorities face resistance from carriers to new measures adopted after another deadly accident about a week earlier that killed 40 people and injured more than a 100 others. The latest incident near Sakal, in the Louga region, also injured more than two-dozen people, according to the national firefighting service.

Twenty people were killed when a bus and a truck collided in northern Senegal, firefighters said, eight days after a smashup between two buses left 40 dead.

Twenty-five people were injured in the accident, which occurred near Sakal in the Louga region, Papa Ange Michel Diatta, a colonel with the national firefighting service, said.

Road accidents are common in Senegal, mainly because of driver error, poor roads and decrepit vehicles, say experts.

Senegal was plunged into three days of mourning after two buses collided in the early morning of January 8 in the central region of Kaffrine, leaving 40 dead and more than 100 injured.

The government responded by announcing nearly two dozen measures, including limiting buses and trucks to 90 kilometres per hour , banning night buses and outlawing the import of used tyres -- the suspected cause of the accident.

But bus companies are fighting back, securing a one-year delay in a proposed ban on placing luggage on roof racks to prevent vehicles from becoming imbalanced.