Seven foreign volunteer teachers among those killed in Tanzania road crash

Arusha. A day after one of the deadliest road accidents in Tanzania's history, it was revealed that seven foreign volunteer teachers were among the people killed in the gruesome road smash in Tanzania's northern city of Arusha.

The crash claimed the lives of 25 people in total and left 21 others injured.

As reported by police spokesperson Abel Paul, the seven foreign volunteer teachers were one each from Kenya, Togo, Madagascar, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Nigeria, and the United States.

The foreign teachers were attached to a school in Arusha, Paul told Xinhua over the phone.

The accident occurred Saturday at around 5pm when the driver of a lorry lost control of the vehicle, which then collided with three other vehicles in Ngaramtoni, Arusha.

Speaking at the Mount Meru Referral Hospital on Saturday night, the Commissioner of Police for Operations and Training, Awadhi Juma Haji, said that among the dead were women, including a young girl and seven foreign nationals.

The accident involved a lorry with registration number KAC 943 H, a Mack truck with trailer number ZF 6778, belonging to KAY Construction Company of Nairobi, Kenya.

"The number of injured is 21, of whom 14 are men and seven are women," he said.

The other vehicles involved in the accident were a Nissan Caravan (T 623 CQF), a Mercedes Benz Saloon (T 879 DBY), and a Toyota Coaster (T 673 DEW) belonging to the New Vision English Medium School.

Regarding the cause of the accident, he said that preliminary investigations showed that the lorry's brake system failed, causing it to hit the other vehicles in front of it.

He said that the police are still searching for the driver of the lorry, who is alleged to have fled after the accident.