Five die as train hits bus in Tunis

Engine tears vehicle caught on tracks in two

TUNIS // At least five people were killed and more than 50 injured yesterday when a train struck a public bus crossing the tracks before dawn near the Tunisian capital.

The articulated bus was cut in two in the collision at 6am near Sidi Fathallah, about 10 kilometres south of Tunis.

The interior ministry said five people, including a child, were killed and another 52 taken to hospital, many with serious injuries. Among the injured were eight soldiers, said Radio Mosaique FM.

The bus belonged to the public transport service of the town of Nabeul, about 50 kilometres south of Tunis.

President Beji Caid Essebsi paid a visit to some of the injured at the Ben Arous hospital in southern Tunis. “An investigation has been opened to understand the circumstances and to determine responsibility,” said Hassen Miaadi, the director of communications for the national railway company.

Authorities in Tunisia have called for greater caution on the roads after a series of accidents, that include a collision between a bus and a lorry in August that killed 16 people and injured 85. Tunisia has the second worst traffic death rate per capita in North Africa behind war-torn Libya, according to a World Health Organisation report from last year.

The country logged 24.4 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, according to data from previous years, less than Libya’s 73.4 but far more than the UK’s 2.9.

An investigation has been opened to determine responsibility Hassen Miaadi national railway director of communications