17 people die in Tanzania car accident

Seventeen people died and 12 were injured in a tragic car accident in Tanzania's northern Tanga region around dawn on Saturday after a minibus collided head-on with a truck, an official said.

Omar Mgumba, the Tanga Regional commissioner, said the accident happened at Mombo ward 284 kilometers (176 miles) north of the commercial city of Dar es Salaam.

"This accident caused death of 17 people and 12 others were injured. We have not been able to identify the names of those who are killed yet. Their bodies have been preserved at our district hospital morgue and the injured are being treated at our Bombo regional hospital," Mgumba told reporters.

The victims, who were in a mini-van, were transporting a body of their loved one for burial to the Kilimanjaro region when their car collided head-on with a truck, he added.

Preliminary police investigation showed that the accident has been caused by negligence of the truck driver who speeded up without any precaution, Mgumba said.

An eye witness, who spoke to Anadolu over the phone, said the casket had been split open due to the impact of the accident, exposing the lifeless body of the deceased.

"I was going to the farm when I heard people yelling. When I moved closer, I saw a coffin open and injured people cramming in a bus. We managed to pull some of them from the wreckage," said Nashon Kizenga, a resident of the Mombo village.