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Matiangi in Arusha attending funeral service of 32 students

The final year primary pupils were on their way to sit mock examinations ahead of seeking places at secondary school.

NAIROBI, Kenya May 8 – President Uhuru Kenyatta has dispatched Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi to attend the funeral service of 32 Tanzanian students killed in a road accident on Saturday.

The funeral service was planned for Monday in Arusha, and will be attended by Tanzanian President John Magufuli, his top government officials and dignitaries from neighbouring countries.

“Matiangi will be delivering a message of condolence from President Kenyatta and the Kenyan people,” an official from his office told Capital FM News, “he’s already in Arusha because he left early this (Monday) morning.”

The primary school pupils, their two teachers and a bus driver perished when their bus went off the road and rolled several times.

“Preliminary investigations show that the accident is due to speeding,” regional police Chief Charles Mkumbo told the state-run Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation late on Saturday.

Some reports said the people on the bus were not wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.

The accident happened early on Saturday when the bus went off the road and into the Marera river gorge in Karatu district near the northern city of Arusha where the children were attending Lucky Vincent Primary School.

The final year primary pupils were on their way to sit mock examinations ahead of seeking places at secondary school.

“It’s a huge tragedy,” Innocent Mushi, the school’s director said.

Tanzania is among countries in Africa with a poor road safety record.

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“This accident extinguishes the dreams of these children who were preparing to serve the nation, it is an immense pain for the families involved and for the whole nation,” President Magufuli said in a statement.

Speeding is the cause of most road accidents in Tanzania, according police statistics that show around 3,000 people killed each year.

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