At least 8 killed in S. Sudan road accident

At least eight people were killed in a road accident involving two buses along a highway in South Sudan on Wednesday.

South Sudan's deputy police spokesperson, Colonel Kwaicjok Dominic Amondot, told Xinhua that the head-on collision between two buses travelling to Uganda and South Sudan respectively injured 37 others.

The fatal accident occurred along the Juba-Kampala highway in an area called Pageri.

Amondot said among the dead are four Ugandans, three South Sudanese and one Somali national, adding 37 others are receiving treatment at the border town of Nimule.

"Eight people died in the accident which occurred at around 9 a.m. in Pageri village. Some 37 others are also receiving treatment at Nimule Hospital," Amondot said.

He said the investigators have not established the cause of the accident.

Gregory David, a passenger involved in the accident, told Xinhua that the two buses collided while attempting to dodge a pothole in high speed.

The Juba-Kampala highway is one of the most important trade route for landlocked South Sudan as it remained the only open road linking the young nation to other East African countries such as Uganda and Kenya.

But recent increase in gun attacks and looting along the road has reduced traffic. Unknown gunmen on Monday killed one person and injured four others on the same road following an attack on a Uganda bound bus. Endit