On Monday, a bus and a truck collided in Senegal, killing 19 people, as authorities faced resistance from transporters against new regulations implemented following another deadly accident just a week earlier.
"Yet another fatal accident on our roads at the entrance to Ngeun Sarr. 19 human lives lost," tweeted President Macky Sall.
Colonel Papa Ange Michel Diatta, a national fire department official, said that the crash near Louga (north) injured 25 people.
On January 8, more than 40 people were killed when two buses collided in the country's centre, highlighting the well-known problems of the road in Senegal, as in many African countries: dilapidated and dangerous vehicles, reckless driving, and widespread corruption among officials in charge of enforcing the law or issuing driving licences.
According to a witness contacted by the private radio station RFM on Monday morning, the bus swerved to avoid a donkey.
The January 8 disaster, which was blamed on a burst tyre, has triggered a wave of criticism against authorities for their inability to enforce traffic laws and car maintenance norms.
The government announced 20 steps in the aftermath of this disaster, one of the deadliest in Senegal in recent years. Many of these regulations have been challenged as unenforceable by transportation experts, who are the primary stakeholders.
On Twitter, the president reiterated the importance of them. The northern disaster "highlights the need to tighten road safety measures," he added.
Many experts have criticised the regulations as being out of line with economic realities or lifestyles, such as the prohibition on buses and minibuses travelling at night or the prohibition on importing worn tyres.