Zambian gov't plans to hold funeral for 25 car crash victims

The Zambian government says it intends to hold a funeral for 25 people who died in a car crash in the central region on Saturday, according to local reports.

Twenty-five people, including three children, were killed when two buses collided in Kabwe town. Another bus crash barely a few days earlier killed six people in another central town, Kapiri Mposhi.

Central Province Minister, Davies Chisopa, said the government was considering holding the funeral but it will be up to the families of the victims to decide whether they will mourn in one place.

"President Edgar Lungu has already issued instructions to the provincial administration that government will meet all the funeral expenses because this is a tragedy and, as a province, we are so devastated," he was quoted saying by local media.

The Zambia Road Safety Trust, a local organization involved in promoting road safety, attributes the accident to speeding.

It blames the government for not effectively enforcing a rule that requires all public service vehicles equipped with speed limiters before they are allowed on the road.

According to the organization, there were over 2,000 deaths due to road accidents in Zambia in 2015. Endit