40 people killed, dozens injured in bus crash in Senegal
Dakar (Senegal), Jan 8: At least 40 people were killed and dozens injured in a bus crash in central Senegal, the country's president said Sunday.
President Macky Sall said in a tweet that the accident happened in Gnivy village, in the Kaffrine region, at about 3:30 am.
"I am deeply saddened by the tragic road accident today in Gniby causing 40 deaths and many serious injuries. I extend my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the injured," said Sall.
He declared three days of mourning starting Monday and said he will hold an inter-ministerial council to discuss road safety measures.
Public prosecutor Cheikh Dieng said the crash happened on National Road No. 1 when a public bus punctured a tire and veered across the road, colliding with another bus coming from the opposite direction. At least 78 people are injured some of them seriously, he said.
Images of the crash on social media show the damaged buses rammed into each other and a trail of debris along the road.
Motor accidents happen regularly in the West African nation due to poor roads, bad cars and drivers not adhering to the rules, say locals.
In 2017, at least 25 people were killed when two buses also crashed. Many of those people were heading toward the central town of Touba for the annual Muslim pilgrimage.
Je suis profondément attristé par le tragique accident routier de ce jour, à Gniby, occasionnant 40 morts et de nombreux blessés graves. J’adresse mes condoléances émues aux familles des victimes et souhaite prompt rétablissement aux blessés.
— Macky Sall (@Macky_Sall) January 8, 2023
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Bihar has 'failed' on all parameters during 21 years of NDA rule: Tejashwi
Patna (PTI): Launching a frontal attack on the Bihar government, RJD's national working president, Tejashwi Yadav, on Thursday, alleged that the state has "failed" on all parameters during the 21 years of NDA rule.
His remarks came four days ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls in Bihar on March 16. Six candidates—five from the ruling NDA and one from the RJD are in the fray for five Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar.
In a post on X on Thursday, Yadav wrote, "The NDA government failed on all parameters despite years of a double-engine government. Bihar continues to rank at the bottom of most development indicators even after 21 years of NDA rule."
"Bihar is a unique state where the NDA's double-engine government has been in power for decades, yet the state still performs poorly across several socio-economic indicators. Bihar is the poorest state in the country, has the highest migration, the highest levels of crime and corruption, the highest unemployment, the highest level of multidimensional poverty and highest school dropout rate in the country, lowest literacy rate in the country, and the state has the lowest per capita income in the country," he wrote.
He further claimed that Bihar is the state where farmers' income is lowest in the country, lowest per capita consumption in the country, lowest computer literacy in the country, lowest electricity consumption in the country, lowest basic infrastructure in the country, lowest quality education in the country and the lowest industrial units in the country.
Yadav, who is also Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, said the state is lagging in almost every development indicator. He accused the government of avoiding accountability while running the administration through bureaucratic control, state resources and caste politics.
Ironically, despite being lowest on all development parameters, Bihar is leading in buying expensive gas, leading in buying expensive electricity, leading in buying expensive petrol-diesel, and here buying property is more expensive than in Delhi and Mumbai, he alleged.
State BJP spokesperson, Neeraj Kumar, refuted the charges levelled by Yadav and told PTI, "RJD leader should have compared the current situation in Bihar with the period between 1990 and 2005 when the state was governed by Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi. The condition improved only after the NDA government led by Nitish Kumar came to power in 2005."
