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At least 71 people have died in southern Ethiopia after a truck plunged into a river, authorities say.
The vehicle, which was traveling through Sidama state on Sunday, fell into the river after missing a bridge, a local official told Reuters news agency.
Wosenyeleh Simion said many of the passengers had been invited to a wedding party.
The region’s traffic police reported that the truck was overloaded, which likely caused the incident, Simion said. More research is being done.
Of the people who died, 68 were men and 3 were women, the Traffic Prevention and Control Directorate of the Sidama Police Commission said.
Blurred images shared on Facebook by the state health office show a group of people trying to pull a disabled vehicle from a body of water in Bona district.
Other images shared by the office appear to show bodies, some covered with a blue tarp, lying on the ground.
Thousands of people die each year in road accidents in Ethiopia, often blamed on speeding and failure to follow traffic laws.
