Daladala, lorry smash kills five
 
2005-07-26 08:20:46
By Lusekelo Philemon

	Hassan Saleh is attended to by nurses at Temeke District Hospital after he was seriously injured in an accident involving a Daladala and a light truck at Mtoni, Dar es Salaam yesterday.

Five people died and 25 others were injured, some seriously, when a daladala collided with a lorry in Dar es Salaam yesterday.

Eighteen casualties were admitted to Temeke District Hospital while seven people were taken to Muhimbili National Hospital for specialized treatment after sustaining serious injuries in the crash.

Temeke Hospital acting chief physician Dr Adhifa Nabahani said the dead were moved to the hospital’s mortuary and added that none had been identified as of 2pm yesterday, almost three hours after the accident took place at Mtoni Mtongani.

Survivors and eyewitnesses told The Guardian that there was a queue on the road and the daladala driver was overtaking other vehicles when the minibus collided head-on with the lorry. Five passengers in the daladala died on the spot.

’’The daladala driver is to blame for this terrible accident. He was overtaking recklessly. I don’t know what all the haste was for,’’ an eyewitness said.

Salma Mohamed said from her bed at Temeke Hospital that she was knocked unconscious and could not tell what had happened.

’’I don’t remember anything. I only remember that I was in a daladala when everything suddenly went black and I woke up to find myself in a hospital bed,’’ she said.

Mbaraka Salim, who was riding at the back of the lorry, said he heard a loud bang and saw the mangled wreckage of the minibus being flung off the road.

’’All I can recall is hearing a loud bang followed by screams. I then saw the minibus and realized that we had been involved in an accident,’’ he said.

The packed minibus was travelling to Tandika from Mbagala Charambe while the lorry was going in the opposite direction.

Other casualties admitted at Temeke Hospital were identified as Hassan Saleh, Fatma Ali, Fadhil Zuberi Kipanye, Hamis Sunga, Aisha Sultan, Edward Ndwele and Jaffari Abdul.

Others were Tabu Mustafa, Idrisa Salum, Bahati Yusuf, Mohamed Hussan, Fadhil Kipande, Charles Edward, Paulina James, Fatma Ali Nassoro and Mariam Hussein.

Those admitted to Muhimbili National Hospital were Launi Namtoma, Mary Jeje, Sophia Selemani, Humphrey Machite, Mohamed Shomvi, Rajab Idd and Heri Juma.

• SOURCE: Guardian