Angolan president João Lourenço today expressed “concern and sadness” over yet another road accident, which caused at least 12 deaths and dozens of injuries.
The accident occurred on Sunday in the municipality of Cabo Ledo, Icolo e Bengo province, when a bus travelling from Huíla province to Luanda skidded and overturned, killing at least 12 people and injuring 39. Among the dead, the health ministry confirmed the deaths of seven nurses — who were returning from an Angolan Nursing Association event held in Huíla — up from six confirmed earlier.
“When we have barely recovered from the bloody episode of last week in Cuanza Sul province, with a high number of dead and injured, we were yesterday again shaken by another bitter piece of news — the overturning of a bus near Cabo Ledo, Icolo e Bengo province. More Angolan families are facing the pain of losing loved ones,” the Angolan presidency said in a statement.
Read more about this topic: Angola: bus road accident kills 12 and injures 32
João Lourenço appealed “once again for prudence and care when driving, so that the roads that cross the territory in all directions may be symbols of progress and life, never instruments of death and destruction.”
The injured are receiving treatment in various hospital units in Luanda, with the General Pedro Maria Tonha “Pedalé” Hospital Complex treating the most serious patients, who presented severe cranioencephalic, spinal, thoracic and abdominal trauma, as well as severe limb fractures.
Last week, another passenger bus accident killed 24 people and injured 21 in Cuanza Sul province, after the vehicle — travelling from Huambo to Luanda — also skidded and overturned.
Road accidents are the second leading cause of death in Angola after malaria. Statistics published in 2024 by the National Road and Traffic Directorate show that over the past ten years there have been 31,521 deaths and 147,670 injuries from a total of 133,996 road accidents.
