Truck smashes into bus in north Sudan, killing at least 13

CAIRO (AP) — A speeding truck trying to overtake a car crashed into a passenger bus on a highway in northern Sudan on Friday, killing 13 people and injuring 15, authorities.

Sudanese police said the accident happened near the village of Dongola on the Nile River, around 500 miles north of the capital, Khartoum. Streets were slick as heavy rains and gale force winds pummeled much of the country, causing severe flooding in some towns.

Images circulating online showed the two big vehicles crumpled and overturned by the roadside.

Both drivers and four police officers traveling on the bus were among those killed, officials said. The 15 injured were taken to a hospital, where some were reported in critical condition.

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

In May, a fiery head-on collision between a truck packed with passengers and a tractor-trailer killed 57 people and left more than 20 injured on a highway in the country’s Darfur region.