Morogoro – Three police officers killed in a three-vehicle crash in Morogoro were formally farewelled at the Field Force Unit (FFU) grounds on October 10 before their bodies were to be sent to Singida, Dodoma and Manyara for burial.
Their deaths formed part of a devastating overnight toll of 32 people in two road crashes in Morogoro on October 8-9.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan said the first collision involved three vehicles, including a police vehicle, and killed four people; the second killed 28 after a passenger bus and a truck collided at Mkambarani village and the bus caught fire, in a statement issued on October 9.
Police said the first crash involved a police vehicle and two Scania lorries at Magole on the Morogoro-Dodoma road in Kilosa District. It left four dead and seven injured, while investigations into its cause continue, according to a report citing Morogoro Regional Police Commander Andrew Kantimbo.
Early hospital reports also described it as a three-vehicle crash involving a police vehicle and said seven FFU officers were injured.
READ MORE: Twelve Killed in Singida Crash as Fatal Collisions Renew Calls for Safer Roads
The heavier loss came on the Morogoro-Dar es Salaam highway at Mkambarani. A passenger bus travelling from Dar es Salaam to Mbeya collided head-on with a timber truck travelling in the opposite direction from Iringa, before the bus was engulfed in flames, the regional Fire and Rescue Force said.
Acting regional fire commander Joseph Mwasabeja said the truck driver had attempted to overtake other vehicles without adequate care. That account is preliminary, rather than a final crash-investigation finding.
For relatives, the immediate task has been identifying the dead and arranging burials. Morogoro Regional Referral Hospital said it received 28 bodies and 30 injured people from the Mkambarani crash.
Of the bodies, 10 were assessed as male and seven as female, while burns meant that the sex of 11 could not be established; the hospital appealed for relatives to come forward as DNA procedures continued. It also received four bodies and seven injured people from the other crash.
President Samia sent condolences to bereaved families, Morogoro Regional Commissioner Queen Sendiga and Inspector General of Police Camillus Wambura. She urged drivers to observe safety laws and keep their vehicles in safe condition.
The deaths extend a grim sequence of fatal crashes since the September 21 Singida collision that killed 12 people, including five police officers and seven remand detainees. A diesel tanker was reported to have suffered brake failure before striking the police vehicle at Sekenke Hill, though authorities said that account was preliminary.
The following day, eight people were killed and 12 injured when a Coaster bus collided head-on with a truck at Chumbi village in Rufiji District. Police attributed that crash to the bus driver losing control and crossing into the path of the oncoming truck.
The new fatalities come after the latest nationwide figures available from the government recorded 1,066 road-crash deaths, 1,869 injuries and 1,233 reported incidents between July 2025 and April 2026.
Home Affairs Minister Paschal Katambi said those figures were lower than in the comparable preceding period, citing intensified patrols and penalties imposed on about three million drivers.
The government’s 2024-2027 Road Safety Plan calls for a Safe System approach, including treatment of high-risk sites, speed management, safer vehicles and stronger enforcement.
The latest Morogoro crashes, however, leave families awaiting identification and burial before the fuller official accounts of what happened are complete.
