A passenger bus carrying fans of Kabuscorp, an Angolan soccer club, overturned on Saturday, killing 23 passengers and injuring 30 others, reported Angolan news broadcaster Angop on Sunday morning.
The incident occurred in Angola’s Kwanza Sul province, around 600 kilometers south of Angola’s capital, Luanda. The bus was carrying soccer fans from an away match in the town of Libolo, where the team was playing against Recreative do Libolo in the final of the country’s top divison professional soccer league. Kabuscorp lost the match 2-0.
The president of Kabuscorp soccer club, Mr. Bento Kangamba, suggested that the driver of the bus may have been speeding at the time of the incident in a statement given to Portugese news agency Lusa. “I am distraught and sad. The place where the accident took place is very dangerous and the driver was young and he was probably speeding”, Kangamba said.
Local authorities have reported the bodies of those who were killed had been transported to Luanda, where they are expected to be identified by relatives later this week. The injured passengers were transported to hospitals in the Kwanza Norte province. It is unclear as to the severity of their injuries, but it is known that most of the injured have been admitted into hospital and are being treated.
Angolan president Jose Eduardo dos Santos has extended his condolences to the families of the deceased, and has said in a statement to Lusa that he was deeply saddened by the incident.
The Angolan Federation of Football, or FAF, have also made a statement following the accident, saying that it was indeed a tragedy for the families of the deceased, as well as the Angolan football world as a whole. They have offered condolences to the bereaved and to the Managing Board of the Kabuscorp football club.
Road traffic accidents are the second most common cause of death in Angola, after malaria. The west African country has one of the highest death tolls due to motor vehicle accidents in the world, with over 3000 people being killed on the country’s roads in 2010.
Kabuscorp has recently been in international news after it signed Brazilian football superstar Rivaldo in January of this year. Rivaldo was part of the Brazilian world cup winning team and has previously held the title of World Footballer of the Year.
The exact cause of the accident is unknown, and authorities are investigating the claims that the driver was speeding.