DAR ES SALAAM, June 5 (Xinhua) -- At least 14 people were killed and 17 others critically injured Wednesday after a truck knocked down multiple vehicles, including a mini-bus, in Tanzania's southern highlands region of Mbeya, according to a local official.
Mbeya regional commissioner Juma Homera said the tragedy occurred at Mbembela hills on a steep slope at 1:20 p.m., local time, when the truck, whose driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle, knocked down the mini-bus, a salon car, and several tricycles.
"All the victims were passengers in the mini-bus," Homera told Xinhua on the phone, adding that the injured persons, most of them in critical condition, were rushed to the Mbeya referral hospital.
Homera said among the dead were eight males, including a four-year-old boy.
He said the truck ferrying stones was heading to Mbeya city from Dar es Salaam, and the mini-bus was plying from Tunduma on the Tanzania-Zambia border to Mbeya. ■