Dar es Salaam – A head-on collision between a passenger bus and a cargo lorry on the Morogoro-Dar es Salaam highway on December 31, 2025, resulted in a horrific fire that engulfed both vehicles and left ten people dead and 23 injured.
The accident, which occurred in the evening at Maseyu village, was a grim finale to a year marked by a relentless series of fatal road accidents.
According to Morogoro Regional Police Commander Alex Mkama, the crash was caused by the lorry driver’s reckless overtaking in heavy rain. The Mitsubishi Fuso bus, travelling from Morogoro to Tanga, was hit by a Howo cargo lorry attempting to pass other vehicles without due care.
Both vehicles burst into flames, making it difficult to identify the victims. The incident was a brutal echo of the negligence and hazardous conditions that have defined the nation’s roadways throughout the year.
While authorities have yet to release the official road accident statistics for 2025, the year was punctuated by a horrific series of crashes that left communities shattered. The year began with tragedy when, on January 13, a lorry ploughed into a group of people who were rescuing victims from a previous accident in Handeni district, killing 11.
The carnage continued unabated. In March, seven people, including six church choir members, died when their coaster overturned in the Pare Mountains. April saw another seven lives lost in Mwanga district when a bus lost control on a muddy road.
The month of June was particularly catastrophic, with two separate accidents claiming a total of 70 lives. On June 30, 42 people died in a fiery bus collision in Same district, and just weeks earlier, 28 were killed in Mbeya when a lorry with brake failure rammed into multiple vehicles.
Other notable tragedies included the deaths of five students hit by a bus while jogging in July, five people killed in a collision in Tunduma in August, and five motorcycle taxi drivers killed by a lorry with brake failure in Dodoma on December 12.
Human error remains the leading cause of accidents. Official reports indicate that 97 per cent of all crashes are due to human error, with reckless driving being the primary culprit. Poor vehicle maintenance, as suspected in a September bus crash caused by a burst tyre, is another major contributing factor.
In response to the escalating crisis, the government has launched several initiatives. In August 2024, then-Vice-President Dr Philip Mpango unveiled a new three-year Road Safety Plan. Developed with the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP), the plan aims to improve road design, vehicle safety, and driver behaviour.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan has also been a vocal advocate for stricter enforcement of traffic laws, calling for a points-based system for driving licences to replace the current system of fines.
