DAKAR, June 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Thirty-one people were killed and 34others injured Thursday morning when two public transport buses crashed in northern Senegal, local media reported.

    The accident occurred between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m. local time when the two buses heading in opposite directions -- one that had set out from Dakar and the other from the northern city of St. Louis-- crashed on the state No. 2 highway, said the reports.

    Twenty-eight people were killed immediately, three died later in the local hospital, and 34 others were injured. The authoritieshave flown 14 seriously wounded people in two planes to the capital of Dakar for treatment.

    Among the dead were 24 women, five men and two children.

    According to an official with the police rescue service, the accident happened early Thursday near the town of Mekhe on the main highway that links Dakar with Louga, 200 km to the north.

    A Senegalese radio said the accident might be caused by cat napof one of the two bus drivers. Enditem