29 killed as Ethiopian bus plunges into ravine
Sept 22, 2005 (ADDIS ABABA) — At least 29 people were killed and 18 others injured when a crowded bus slid off a muddy road and plunged over a ravine in southeastern Ethiopia after days of torrential rain, police said Thursday.
Most of the dead were killed instantly in the accident, which occurred late Wednesday along a gravel road running from the town of Robei, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) southeast of Addis Ababa to Shashamene, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of the capital, they said.
“Twenty died instantly while nine others passed away on the way or in nearby hospitals and clinics,” police inspector Tadios Zewge told AFP by phone from Robei.
“The bus was heading from Robei to Shashamene when it rolled down a 100-meter ravine (328-foot),” he said, adding that the driver was among those killed and that 12 of the 18 wounded suffered serious injuries.
Tadios said the cause of the accident was under investigation but that it appeared the bus had been speeding and slid off the road due to mud caused by several days of torrential rain in the area.
(AFP/ST)