Road safety in Mozambique has been called into question once again following yet another tragic accident on the country’s roads.
At least 23 people died and 49 were injured in a collision near the central city of Beira on Sunday after a bus “made an irregular overtaking manoeuvre in a prohibited location” and “collided with a vehicle coming in the opposite direction,” according to law enforcement officials.
President Filipe Nyusi expressed his condolences Monday morning and condemned speeding drivers. Excessive speed emerged as the dominant cause of traffic accidents in Mozambique according to data shared by the government in late May.
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Over the last five years, 4,812 people have died as a result of 5,459 traffic accidents, figures that put the country at an “above-average burden of road traffic deaths” in Africa.
While government efforts reduced accidents in the first quarter of 2024, the road safety situation there remains “truly worrying”, said Ambrósio Sitoe, permanent secretary for the transport ministry.
A World Bank report described Mozambique as “one of the worst-performing countries in Africa, and in the world” when it comes to road safety.
