At least eight Ethiopian migrants died and dozens were injured in a horrific road accident in Northern Somalia, witnesses and health workers confirmed.
The accident happened after the lorry they were riding in overturned in an area close to the town of Gardo due to high speed, witnesses told Horseed Media.
’’The lorry was over packed and the driver was over speeding… some of the injured are in critical conditions,’’ said one of the survivors.
Road accidents are common in Somalia, where highways lack safety features like guard rails or reflective paint.
Most of the roads are notoriously dangerous, with passenger vehicles badly maintained and often overloaded so operators can maximise profits.
Ethiopian migrants determined to cross to the war-torn Yemen continue to stream into the Somali autonomous region of Puntland.
On the main highway linking Garowe, Puntland’s capital to the commercial hub Bossaso, hundreds of migrants are seen enduring a road journey in the searing heat of summer that will take not less than two weeks.
Yemen is mainly used as a transit country, with African migrants often aiming to move on to neighbouring oil-rich Gulf nations to find work.
In July, the U.N. refugee agency warned refugees and migrants from the Horn of Africa not to make the perilous journey across the Red Sea to Yemen. The UNHCR says thousands of people continue to arrive in the country despite the dangers.
Horseed Media
Somalia: 8 Ethiopian Migrants Killed in Road Accident
Published: October 12, 2015
