Sudan head-on crash kills at least 43

A head-on collision between a truck carrying passengers and another vehicle has killed at least 43 people and left 32 others injured on a highway in Sudan's Darfur region.

The police statement said the crash took place late Thursday in the town of Shangil Tobayi in North Darfur province.

The statement did nor elaborate on the cause of the crash. It said a fire broke out in the truck before firefighters put it out.

Some of the injured were in critical condition and taken to a hospital in al-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur, it said.

The truck, which was loaded with passengers, was traveling from Shangil Tobayi when it collided with a passenger vehicle heading toward the town, more than 1,100 kilometres west of the capital, Khartoum, police said.

Automobile accidents are common in Sudan, often the result of badly maintained roads and poor enforcement of traffic laws. The World Health Organization said road accidents killed more than 10,000 people in Sudan in 2018.

In October, a collision between two buses killed 21 people and wounded 29 others in North Kordofan Province.