Tanzania road accidents kill 11,000 in three years: official

Tanzania's road accidents claimed the lives of more than 11,000 people over the past three years, an official said Monday.

Hamad Masauni, Tanzanian deputy minister of Home Affairs, revealed this when speaking at the official launch of the country's road safety week held in Geita Region, located on the western shores of Lake Victoria.

"For the past three years, road accidents have killed 11,230 people over the past three years and injured 44,602 others," the minister said, citing reckless driving and excessive speed as the reason behind the road accidents.

Not long before the road safety week, 25 people died in two separate bus accidents.

With a motto "No road crashes -- We want to live", this year's road safety week features an intensive vehicle inspection all over the country.

Masauni directed the state-run Tanzania National Roads Agency to remove speed humps on highways, saying they are a cause of accidents instead of a deterrent against speeding.

Geita Regional Safety Committee Chairman Edward Nyauringo said that the week kicked off in line with training offered to drivers in an effort to curb accidents.

According to Nyauringo, most of the accidents in the region were caused by unskilled drivers who enter into the profession without proper training.

Mohamed Mpinga, Tanzania's Chief Traffic Police Commander, cited the increase of motor vehicles, road users and defective vehicles on roads as some of the major reasons for the spike of road accidents. Endit