Eight killed, others hospitalised after road accident in Enga

By MICHAEL LAI
EIGHT men were killed and four hospitalised following a road accident between Wapenamada and Wabag over the weekend.
Enga police commander Joseph Tondop said a dump truck with 12 people on it had a head-on collision with a highway truck loaded with two containers at Yaibos, between Wapenamenda and Wabag.
Tondop told The National that eight men were confirmed dead and four others had serious injuries and were at Wabag General Hospital.
He said of the eight dead, six were from Yakauman tribe and two from Maini tribe in Wapenamanda. “The driver of the highway truck was arrested and is in police custody,” Tondop said.
He said the accident occurred when the dump truck was trying to overtake a 15-seater bus on a sharp bend between Wabag and Wapenamanda.
The dump truck crashed into the highway truck that was on its way to Porgera via Wabag.
“Investigations are going to be carried out to identify what caused the accident,” Tondop said.
“I will give full detail after an investigation is carried out.”
He said that he would talk with the relatives of the deceased today. Tondop passed his condolences to family members of the deceased.
In relation to the accident, he described the sealed road between Wabag and Wapenamenda as a “killing machine” if drivers did not drive with caution and within the speed limit of 60km per hour.