A truck full of passengers plunged into a river in Sidama province, regional authorities said.
About 71 people died in a road accident in southern Ethiopia, according to local authorities.
A truck full of passengers plunged into a river in Sidama province, 300 kilometers south of Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, the regional communications office said in a statement on Sunday.
In a Facebook post, the Sidama Police Commission Traffic Prevention and Control Directorate said “68 men and three women are known to have died in this accident so far”, quoting Chief Inspector Daniel Sankura.
Wosenyeleh Simion, spokesperson for the Sidama regional government, also confirmed to Reuters that 71 people died.
“Five are in critical condition and are being treated at Bona General Hospital,” Wosenyeleh added on Monday.
In a statement on Sunday, the media center stated that the number of dead is 60, adding that the survivors were treated at the Bona General Hospital.
Blurred images shared by the Sidama Regional Health Bureau showed a crowd of people surrounding the vehicle, partially submerged in water, with many seen trying to help it out of the water.
Some photos shared by the bureau appeared to show the bodies, some covered in a green tarp, lying on the ground.
The health department expressed its condolences to the families of those who died in the accident and said that more information will be shared later.
The police commissioner said the incident happened around 5:30 pm local time (14:30 GMT) on Sunday when the car plunged into the river.
Wosenyeleh told Reuters that the truck missed the bridge and fell into the river and the road had many curves.
Some of the passengers were returning from a wedding ceremony and some families have lost many members, he said.
He further said that the traffic police in this region reported that the truck was overloaded, which may have caused the accident.
Authorities did not provide information about the number of passengers on board at the time of the crash.
Road accidents are common in Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country, where roads are often poorly maintained.
At least 38 people, most of them students, died in 2018 when a bus plunged into a gorge in the northern mountains of Ethiopia.
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