ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- A car accident in Ethiopia's northern Amhara regional state has killed 9 people, a local government official said on Tuesday.
The accident occurred on Monday afternoon in northern Ethiopia's Gubalafto district when a passenger minibus traveling on the road overturned into a 20-meter cliff, eventually leaving 9 people dead, state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC) quoted Gubalafto district Police Office as saying on Tuesday.
According to police, nine other passengers including the driver are receiving treatment in nearby health stations after sustaining light and heavy injuries from the accident.
The cause of the deadly accident is currently under investigation by police, it was noted.
Despite having one of the lowest per capita car ownership in the world, deadly traffic accidents in are common in the East African country often with blames put on bad roads, flawed driving license issuance system and lax enforcement of road safety.
Traffic accidents during the Ethiopian 2017/18 fiscal year had killed some 5,118 people, according to Ethiopia Federal Transport Authority.
According to the authority, the number of people killed and the rate of accidents occurred during the stated period registered major increase compared to the previous year, in which the number of people killed had increased from 4,500 to 5,118 while a record number of close to 41,000 traffic accidents were registered during last year.
