A total of 20 people were burned to death this Thursday in Mozambique’s Manica province after the crowded passenger transport they were traveling in collided with a truck and overturned, local sources told Lusa.
“The car overturned and caught fire, many people were burned in the car and at that moment we saw [confirmamos] The 20 bodies were taken to the mortuary of the Catandica District Hospital,” David Frank, administrator of Barue district in the province, told Luse in a telephone statement.
According to the official, only two people survived the incident.
The leader, who called the incident “shocking and serious,” said authorities were working to identify the bodies and asked members of the public who have relatives traveling in the region to contact health services.
The crash was caused by a cloud of smoke resulting from an uncontrolled fire that spilled onto the road, reducing the visibility of the driver, who collided with a truck traveling in the opposite direction, a survivor said.
“The minibus was traveling towards Chimoyo Guro and we were surprised by the sound of a collision with a stopped truck. I was with my older brother, who did not get out of the car,” explained one of the survivors, who was still in the passenger seat in the front, next to the driver .
They were in a passenger van with a capacity of 15 passengers, 22 passengers, of whom only two survived the accident, he continued.
The police, who sent a fire brigade to the scene, promised to comment on the incident on Friday.