20 killed in bus-truck collision in Haiti

Port-au-Prince, Jan 9 (IANS) At least 20 persons were killed after a bus collided with a truck in Haiti, officials said.

The accident occurred on Sunday in the town of Monte Lacrete in the mountainous northern Artibonite province, Efe news reported.

Emergency service authorities said that the injured -- some of whom were quite seriously hurt -- were transported to the nearby health centres.

This is the first large road accident to occur in Haiti so far this year, although such incidents are a relatively frequent occurrence in the impoverished country because of the precarious nature of public transport, with thousands of people forced to use vehicles of all sorts - many of them not well-maintained and driven by people with little training.

Many Haitians live in rural mountainous zones where trucks often become death traps for those using them for transportation.