Senegal declares three days national mourning after bus crash kills 40

Senegal has declared three days of national mourning after at least 40 people died and about 80 others were wounded in central part of the West African country as two buses collided in the early hours of Sunday.

According to a statement from the area’s local prosecutor, the accident happened when the tyre of one passenger bus burst, sending it into the path of another bus coming in the opposite direction.

The fatal crash, one of the worst in recent memory for the West African nation, occurred close to the town of Kaffrine, about 220 southeast of the capital Dakar.

President Macky Sall said on Twitter that he was “profoundly saddened” by the accident and announced three days of mourning starting on Monday.

He also said a meeting will be held on Monday to take measures to ensure the roads and public transportation systems are safe.

Senegal has a high rate of traffic accidents as large trucks and buses, some of which are decades old, are overloaded. However, the latest accident is the most serious in years, with a significantly high death toll.

In 2017, a collision between two buses killed 25 people, some of whom were en route to a religious festival.