Seven people have lost their lives when a speeding ambulance rammed onto a motorized cart on which the victims were riding on their way to farm.
The ambulance, a Toyota Landcruiser Series 79 Hardtop with registration number STM 7840, traveling from Luganga, in Iringa, collided with a motorized farm cart, known as ‘Guta,’ which was carrying 22 people, who were said to have been riding the contraption to their farms.
The Mufindi District Commissioner, DC Linda Salekwa confirmed the incident, explaining that the accident occurred on Saturday, the 19th of April 2025 in the Mafinga Township of Iringa.
The in-charge of the Mafinga Town Hospital, Dr Victor Msafiri explained that six people, all women, were brought to the medical facility already dead, while the seventh victim, a man, passed away while undergoing treatment.
According to Dr Msafiri, the hospital also received a total of 15 injured persons from the scene of the accident, among them eight women and seven men, with four of the said victims under intensive care while the other 11 seem to be doing well.
One of the accident survivors, a lady known as Farida Shelukindo explained that they were indeed on their way to the farm, riding on the motorized cart, when the speeding Ambulance Cruiser crashed onto them.
The Landcruiser also overturned after the impact.
As for the motorized cart, the entire carriage was totally unhooked from its chassis, throwing the people on it across the tarmac road, killing seven riders on the spot.
There are no reports yet regarding the occupants of the ill-fated ambulance and if it had a sick person on board or whether the vehicle driver survived the crash.
On the other hand, the police in Iringa Region have cautioned against people using unofficial modes of transport on highways, such as carts, tractors and power tillers as they could be risking their lives in the process.