Saied pledges steps for safer roads after deadly crash

TUNIS: Tunisia’s president promised to improve his country’s poor road safety record after 26 people were killed in a bus crash — and then a car transporting one of the bodies was reportedly hit by a train.

The Health Ministry on Monday raised the death toll to 26 from the accident when a bus carrying Tunisians on an excursion plummeted off a hill in the Beja region Sunday. Seventeen people were injured.

Local radio Mosaique FM reported that a car carrying one of the victims was struck by a train on Monday in the neighbouring Kef region, killing a 21-year-old woman.

Mourning the dead, President Kais Saied promised to “do everything in my power to deal with the consequences of the disaster and fix what can be fixed.”

The accident was one of the deadliest ever in a country whose poor road safety record has sparked criticism of officials.

All those aboard the bus were Tunisian, the ministry said.

The age of the vehicle, more than 20 years old, and speeding were the suspected causes, a minister, Noureddine Selmi, told state television after an initial investigation.

The bus had set off from Tunis towards the picturesque northern mountain town of Ain Draham, a popular autumn destination for domestic visitors.

The interior ministry had initially reported the deaths of 22 out of the 43 people on board, saying the bus had “fallen into a ravine after crashing through an iron barrier.”

The health ministry said four more passengers had died of their injuries.

A media team who visited the site saw the twisted remains of the bus in the ravine near a river bed, surrounded by scattered bodies.

The top of the bus appeared to have been torn off and seats were strewn across the site.

President Kais Saied and outgoing Prime Minister Youssef Chahed both visited the site hours after the tragedy.

Tunisia’s poorly-maintained roads have a reputation for being deadly.