ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-one people were killed and seven others injured when an overloaded minibus overturned in northern Ethipia, a local official said on Tuesday.
Authorities are still investigating what led to the tragedy, which occurred in Atsbi Wonberta, a region in the Northern Tigray regional state, but overloading is considered one of the possible causes.
Gebremedhin Nrea, the district's traffic police department coordinator, said the minibus, which is supposed to only accommodate 27 people, was transporting 34 passengers when it overturned.
Despite having one of the lowest per capita car ownerships in the world, deadly traffic accidents are fairly common in Ethiopia, with bad roads, a flawed driving license issuance system, and lax enforcement blamed for high fatalities.
With a growing economy and a rising middle class, the east African nation has for the past several years recorded an average 11 percent growth in vehicle numbers.
