Three die in separate road accidents in Northern Bahr el Ghazal

AWEIL – At least three people have died in two separate road accidents on Friday in Aweil East and South Counties of South Sudan’s Northern Bahr el Ghazal State, according to local officials and residents.

Two young men died in a collision between a motorcycle and a car on the highway between Aweil Town and Aweil East County, at Halbul village, said Diing Reech Diing, the state’s traffic police director. He attributed the accident to speeding.

“They were coming from Warawar town to Aweil Town and they collided with a car that was going to Aweil East, Wanyjok town. On spot the motorcycle rider died on spot,” Reech told Sudans Post on Sunday afternoon.

He added that the motorcycle passenger died later at the hospital in Aweil. Reech called for calm while investigations into the accident are conducted.

“This is an accident, and we called upon the family of the deceased to wait for the rule of law to take its due processes. It is something unintentional and so the law procedures have to be abided with,” he noted.

The car driver, identified as Agau Kon Kuol, the newly elected chairperson of the women’s association in Northern Bahr el Ghazal, was critically injured. She was on her way to Aweil East, reportedly on a women’s association mission.

In a separate incident on the same day, two women died in a motorcycle accident on the highway from Wath-muok to Aweil Town, according to local residents in Aweil South County.

The women were reportedly transporting fish from the Wath-muok River to the market in Aweil Town.

One of the women, identified as Akec Lual, died at the scene. The other was taken to Aweil Town hospital, where she later died.

Adut Garang, a friend of the deceased, described Lual as a hardworking breadwinner.

“Akec is a strong breadwinner who tries hard to put food on her children’s table such as getting employing herself as a fish seller. She goes to Wathmuok river to buy and sell afterwards but it is getting worse now as her children are left in a squalid condition or total destitution,” Garang said.

Medical personnel at the Aweil hospital urged traffic officers to enforce traffic regulations to prevent further deaths.