DAKAR, July 26, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - Twenty-three people died Wednesday when a 
bus crashed in northern Senegal, President Macky Sall announced on social 
media.

"I call for even more caution on the road", Sall said in a message posted on 
Twitter.

Earlier, a national fire brigade official and a first responder told AFP that 
22 people had died and 52 others were injured.

The accident happened in the village of Ngeune Sarre in Louga region, they 
said.

They did not specify the cause or time of the accident.

Interior Minister Antoine Felix Abdoulaye Diome was on his way to the 
accident site, a staffer told AFP.

In January, 19 people were killed and 24 injured in a collision in the same 
area, near Louga.

The previous week, around 40 people died in a bus collision in the centre of 
Senegal.

That tragedy, on January 8, prompted a wave of criticism against authorities 
over the frequency of accidents on Senegal's roads, and the lack of action 
taken to prevent them.

The government responded by announcing a long list of measures, including a 
ban on overnight bus journeys. But transport professionals said that many of 
the measures were unrealistic.

Across many countries in Africa, dilapidated vehicles, reckless driving and 
corrupt law-enforcement officials all contribute to tragedies on the road.