SEVEN KILLED IN TRUCK CRASH IN ALGERIA
BY XINHUA
Seven people have been killed and one seriously injured when a mini truck fell down a bridge on Tuesday in the province of Mascara, in the west of Algeria, the state-run radio reported.
The accident occurred at 3 pm in the national road 17 in Mohamadia, when a mini truck carrying eight people skidded off the road and fell down from a 25-meter-high bridge, the radio quoted an official of the Mascara firefighting department as saying.
The seven workers who have been killed were aged between 28 and 53, while the 22-year-old driver is still in coma, the source confirmed.
The dead bodies of the victims were transferred to Dahou Dahaoui Hospital in Mascara, while an investigation was underway to determine the circumstances of the accident.
Figures provided by the National Center for Prevention and Road Safety show that more than 27,500 road accidents occurred in 2013, killing more than 3,700 people and injuring 49,120 others.
A driving license’s demerit point system is still not in force in Algeria though it was approved by the Transport Ministry in 2012. This new driving license rule is seen as an efficient step to curb the increase of deadly car accidents in the North African nation.