At least 71 killed in Ethiopia road accident

ADDIS ABABA - At least 71 people died in Ethiopia when a truck packed with passengers plunged into a river, according to the spokesperson for the southern Sidama regional government and a statement.

The accident occurred in the Bona district, the regional communication bureau said in a statement issued late on Sunday.

Wosenyeleh Simion, spokesperson for the Sidama regional government, told Reuters on Monday at least 71 people had died, including 68 males and 3 females.

"Five are in a critical condition and taking treatment at Bona General Hospital," he said.

In a statement late on Sunday the regional communication bureau had given the death toll as 60.

Wosenyeleh said the truck had missed a bridge and fell into a river and that the road had many bends.

Some of the passengers were returning from a wedding ceremony and some families had lost multiple members, he said, adding traffic police in the region had reported the truck was overloaded, which likely caused the accident.

The state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) also reported that the passengers were travelling to a wedding when the accident occurred on Sunday.

Deadly traffic accidents are common in Ethiopia, where driving standards are poor and many vehicles badly maintained.

At least 38 people, mostly students, were killed in 2018 when a bus plunged into a ravine in Ethiopia's mountainous north.

(Reporting and writing by Dawit Endeshaw; Editing by Ammu Kannampilly, Elias Biryabarema and Kim Coghill)