LUSA 08/20/2025

Lusa - Business News - Mozambique: Traffic officers on duty at accident that killed 23 suspended

Maputo, Aug. 19, 2025 (Lusa) - Mozambique's minister of the interior suspended the traffic enforcement officers who were working in the early hours of Monday morning when an accident occurred in the province of Maputo, southern Mozambique, that took the lives of 23 people.

“I believe that the people who were working there in the early hours and the morning deserve better assignments, and one of the measures we are going to take is to reassign all the personnel who were there while the investigation work is being carried out,” said Paulo Chachine, from the accident site in the district of Manhiça, quoted today by the media.

According to the official, the traffic police at the scene could have held the car until 5 a.m. (4 a.m. in Lisbon), the scheduled time for interprovincial transport vehicles to circulate, and therefore, there is a need to “work thoroughly” to clarify the accident.

“If we had complied, we would have held the car until after 5 a.m., but it passed through places where we are present, through places where there are various forces, various details at work,” he said, adding that an investigation is underway into the three accidents that occurred on Monday in the provinces of Maputo and Gaza, in the south of the country, which killed 35 people.

In addition to the number of fatalities, another 13 people suffered injuries in the accidents, announced the National Road Transport Institute (Inatro).

One of the accidents, which resulted in the death of 23 people and injured four, happened at 4:45 a.m. (one hour behind Lisbon) in the district of Manhiça, along National Road 1 (EN1), after a passenger bus crashed and then fell.

“Initial evidence points to speeding as the most likely cause of the accident,” said Nelson Nunes, chairman of the Inatro board of directors, at a press conference in Maputo.

Also in the Manhiça district, local health authorities reported another road accident in the afternoon with one fatality and three injured.

Another accident occurred on the EN1 in the district of Chongoene, in the province of Gaza, also in the south of the country, resulting in 11 deaths and six injuries after a head-on collision between a semi-collective passenger transport vehicle and a truck. Road authorities pointed to illegal overtaking, excessive speed and driver fatigue as the causes of the accident.

“We found several opportunities for improvement at the scene, including the need to ensure that passenger transport has an official list, secure public transport licences, respect driving times, and comply with the ministerial order regulating the circulation of heavy vehicles,” said the president of Inatro, calling for respect for the highway code to save lives.

On 15 April, Mozambique’s government approved a Road Safety Action Plan, which provides for a series of measures to improve road safety, including increased enforcement, changes to legislation, interventions at critical points, and community awareness.

Inatro will kick off on 22 August with “Operation Brake” to promote responsible driving and prevent speeding and drink-driving, with the institution’s management promising further campaigns to check drivers’ licences.

In the same statements, the official acknowledged that improvements to the condition of national roads can help reduce accidents, as the government moves forward with plans and seeks funding to rehabilitate the EN1, the main road linking the country.

On Monday, Mozambican President Daniel Chapo called for caution on the roads after announcing the deaths of 11 people in the accident in Gaza.

Mozambican police data, sent to Lusa, indicate that at least 409 people lost their lives in road accidents during the first half of this year, and 823 others suffered injuries. Authorities highlight speeding and drink-driving as the main causes.

LN/ADB // ADB.

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