(CNN) -- At least 60 people were killed Saturday in a collision between a bus and a truck in the West African country of Burkina Faso, according to local media reports.
The accident happened before dawn on a road west of the capital, Ouagadougou, The Associated Press reported, quoting state radio.
Many more bus passengers were injured as fire swept through the bus, according to state radio.
A local journalist told AP that firefighters were still battling the blaze eight hours after the crash. Moussa Souna said there were bodies trapped inside.
The cause of the crash was unknown, AP said. A regional official told AP the driver of the bus had survived the crash.
Road accidents are common across West Africa, especially toward the end of the rainy season as potholes fill with water.
Death tolls from traffic accidents tend to be high because of overcrowding on buses and because people travel on top of trucks, AP said.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/15/burkina.faso.accident/index.html
Showing posts with label Sad Article. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sad Article. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Albino Girl Killed for Body Parts
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7733597.stm
A six-year-old albino girl in Burundi has been found dead with her head and limbs removed, in the latest killing linked to ritual medicine.
Albinos in the region have been targeted because of a belief peddled by witchdoctors that their body parts can be used for magic potions. The girl, who was attacked on Sunday, was the sixth person with albinism to be killed in Burundi since September. There have also been a number of attacks in neighbouring Tanzania. The latest attack took place in Burundi's eastern province of Ruyigi. The BBC's Prime Ndikumagenge in Burundi said the child and her family had only just returned to their family home. Armed attackers broke into the family home and tied up the girl's parents before shooting her in the head, local officials say. They had been among a group of about 50 people with albinism to have fled to a provincial centre because they feared for her safety. The head of the Burundi Albinos' Association, Kasim Kazungu, says people with albinism had not suffered any discrimination until other Burundians heard about the lucrative trade in albino body parts in neighbouring Tanzania. Last week, police in south-western Tanzania arrested a man who was attempting to sell his albino wife to Congolese traders. Two mothers in western Tanzania were also attacked with machetes after gangs failed to find their albino children.
A six-year-old albino girl in Burundi has been found dead with her head and limbs removed, in the latest killing linked to ritual medicine.
Albinos in the region have been targeted because of a belief peddled by witchdoctors that their body parts can be used for magic potions. The girl, who was attacked on Sunday, was the sixth person with albinism to be killed in Burundi since September. There have also been a number of attacks in neighbouring Tanzania. The latest attack took place in Burundi's eastern province of Ruyigi. The BBC's Prime Ndikumagenge in Burundi said the child and her family had only just returned to their family home. Armed attackers broke into the family home and tied up the girl's parents before shooting her in the head, local officials say. They had been among a group of about 50 people with albinism to have fled to a provincial centre because they feared for her safety. The head of the Burundi Albinos' Association, Kasim Kazungu, says people with albinism had not suffered any discrimination until other Burundians heard about the lucrative trade in albino body parts in neighbouring Tanzania. Last week, police in south-western Tanzania arrested a man who was attempting to sell his albino wife to Congolese traders. Two mothers in western Tanzania were also attacked with machetes after gangs failed to find their albino children.
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