KHARTOUM, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- At least 8 people were killed on Wednesday and 19 others injured in a traffic accident on the road linking the Sudanese capital Khartoum and Wad Madani town of Gezira State in central Sudan, according to Traffic Police.
"The accident took place when a passenger bus collided with a mini-bus on the highway linking Khartoum and Gezira State," Col. Mussa Abdul-Ghader, Director of Gezira State's Traffic Police, said in a statement.
He attributed the reasons behind the accident to wrong crossing by the passenger bus coming from Khartoum, which led to its collision with the mini-bus.
He said the bodies of the accident's victims were transferred to GIAD Hospital in Gezira State, while the injured were transferred to Ibrahim Malik Hospital in Khartoum.
According to official statistics, 1,662 people were killed in traffic accidents in Sudan in 2015.
Sudan is among countries of the highest death rates in traffic accidents, mainly due to careless driving, crumbling roads and invalidity of some vehicles used in public transportation.
Citizens and vehicle drivers complain about poor road conditions, while the ministry of roads and bridges attributes the accidents to overloaded trucks and high speed.
Sudan's interior ministry recently said it was working out new plans to reduce traffic accidents, including installation of radars to monitor speed on the country's highways.
