Dead bodies lay on the back of a truck Saturday August 29, 2015 near Swaziland鈥檚 capital Mbabane after dozens of girls and young women were killed in a crash while traveling to a famous traditional festival Friday. The truck they were traveling in collided with another vehicle the Swaziland Solidarity Network said in a statement. AP
MBABANE, Swaziland 鈥� A road accident in Swaziland killed 38 girls and seriously injured 20 others who had been on their way to a traditional ceremony where King Mswati III can choose a new wife, pro-democracy activists reported.
The accident happened Friday night when their open truck smashed into a car on the road between the tiny kingdom鈥檚 two main cities, Mbabane and Manzini, en route to the traditional Reed Dance, activists said.
鈥淎 total of 38 young girls have been pronounced dead, with more than 20 others seriously injured,鈥� said Lucky Lukhele, a spokesman for the Swaziland Solidarity Network which campaigns for democracy in the landlocked kingdom within South Africa.
鈥淭he girls were in an open truck which hit a sedan car stopped on the road,鈥� Lukhele told AFP.
The Reed Dance, due to be held Monday, is a beauty pageant that attracts tens of thousands of young virgins who dance before the polygamist king, who can select one of them as a new wife.
Mswati, Africa鈥檚 last absolute monarch, chose his 14th wife at the celebration in 2013.
Mswati said the girls鈥� deaths were a 鈥渢ragedy in the nation鈥�.
鈥淚 would like to assure the parents who have lost their loved ones that the nation will support them through and through,鈥� said the monarch, speaking on the sidelines of a trade fair in Manzini.
鈥淎lso those in hospitals, should the need arise for further treatment they will be taken to other hospitals to ensure no further loss of life.鈥�
Police confirmed there had been 鈥渇atalities鈥� but declined to specify the toll, with police spokesman Khulekani Mamba saying: 鈥淲e won鈥檛 be giving out any information because the maidens were on royal duty, so there are certain protocols to be followed before such information can be divulged to the public.鈥�
Local media gave varying tolls on Saturday morning, with government newspaper The Observer reporting hundreds of injuries and the Swazi 黑料社 saying seven people had been killed, six of them girls.
黑料社 of the accident has not been broadcast on public television and journalists were blocked from photographing the crash scene, a local journalist told AFP.
Mswati III has ruled Swaziland as an absolute monarch since his father鈥檚 death in 1982. CB