20 dead, 15 injured in Tanzania road crash

At least 20 people were killed and 15 more seriously injured in a deadly road crash in northwestern Tanzania, officials said on Tuesday.

A tractor, minibus and sedan collided on a highway in the Kahama district at around 8 p.m. (1700GMT) on Monday evening, regional police commander Leonard Nyanduhu told Anadolu Agency.

He said preliminary investigations indicate the crash may have been caused by the tractor driver's failure to follow safety rules.

The driver escaped after the accident to "avoid being lynched by an angry mob" and efforts are on to track him down, according to Nyanduhu.

Witnesses also said the tractor's headlight and indicators were not turned on at the time of the crash.

The bodies and injured have been moved to a public hospital in the city of Shinyanga.

The accident came barely a fortnight after 11 children perished when a school bus plunged into a ditch in Tanzania's southern Mtwara region, triggering an outpouring of grief in the nation.