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Thursday, January 14, 2010

40 die in horror Papua New Guinea road accident

Villagers assisting survivors from the horrific road accident where two vehicles crashed into each other 130km out of Lae in the Markham Valley on Tuesday afternoon

By PISAI GUMAR and DAISY TANIOVA PAWA in The National

FORTY people have died in the worst road accident in Papua New Guinea.
It happened about 130km out of Lae in the Markham Valley on Tuesday afternoon.
Two 25-seater buses crashed head on at speeds of more than 100km an hour, immediately killing 37 of the 59 people aboard both vehicles.
Three others, who had been severely injured and awaiting transportation to Lae, were later admitted to the Lae International Hospital morgue, at Milfordhaven to take the number of the dead to 40.
Of the 19 survivors, 11 have been treated for injuries and eight have been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at Angau Memorial Hospital.
Police and medical workers said last night the number of dead could increase.
It is believed another two dead were taken straight from the crash site to their villagers in the Markham valley. If authorities confirm it, the number of the dead should reach 42, Angau Hospital workers said.
The accident took place at Ragiampum village on the Highlands highway between Umi Bridge and Watarais, which is at the foot of the Kassam Pass and near the Madang and Eastern Highlands borders.
A Route 100 (Highway) coaster bus was heading to Lae from the Highlands loaded with people and fresh produce from Mt Hagen, Western Highlands province.
Its passengers were mainly people from Western Highlands, Simbu, and Eastern Highlands provinces.
The other vehicle, a Route 3 PMV that services the Lae and Gusap route, was loaded with passengers of mainly Markham, Morobe province, origin.
According to eye witnesses at Ragiampum village and the Mutzing police, the buses were trying to avoid a pothole when they collided.
The impact killed the passengers. Some of them were thrown out of the side windows and splayed on the tar. Others were thrown onto grass on the side of the road.
Many of the dead suffered broken heads, necks, and limbs.
Motorists who were after both vehicles arrived immediately to a scene in which the PMVs were smashed outside and ripped inside.
Bodies were lying incongruently in a macabre and bloody scene that profoundly shocked many people who had seen ghastly accidents before.
“This is the nastiest and bloodiest of accidents on the highway,” Markham MP Koni Iguan said. Villagers standing near him agreed.
“We have witnessed less than 10 victims on previous occasions ... this is horrific.”

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:39 PM

    its time Luther Wenge and Markham MP impose speed limits and enforce Highway patrols . These are one the bloodiest accident ever happen to Markahm highway. Markham MP is so stupid to say he witnessed 10 victims in last accident and now he'd witnessed 40. Thats he's electorate if he had done something in the previous accident (enforcing highway patrol and maintain roads) this wouldnt happen.

    Hanson Nayos
    Chicago

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  2. It's completely bloody obvious that the government has got its priorities all wrong by not giving emphasis to infrastructure development, resulting in this terrible accident. Shame, shame, shame Somare for chosing a luxury jet for your own use instead of good roads for the people of Papua New Guinea,

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  3. Anonymous4:16 PM

    Idiots who think they are grand prix drivers keep forgeting that they carry human cargo and must drive with absolute care. What is wrong with driving at 60kms instead of 100kms or 120kms? Conditions of procurement of driver's licence must also be reviewed. PMV or passenger carrying buses must be driven drivers who are sober and have at least a mnimum of five years experience as a driver of vehicle in the PMV or bus category. Keep road hogs off the road. Port Moresby PMV drivers negotiating 2-Mile Hill on the downward drive to Badili are even worse. My condolences to the relatives of the innocent passengers who perished in this hideous accident. Sori tru.

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  4. I totally agree with you anonymous. I've lived in the Highlands and travelled down to Lae on several occassions, and know for a fact that some of these PMV drivers are completely recklessly. Port Moresby PMV drivers are just as bad. Big job for MVIL. I saw pictures of the accident today and felt so much for these innocent people, especially the little children. Let all Papua New Guinea pray for the victims and help in whatever little way we can.

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  5. bernard oberleuter - Australia7:52 PM

    Make wearing seatbelts COMPULSORY... in all passenger motor vehicles, especially buses that carry human beings ?? Now the wait and see, who is going to pay for the haus krai moni, and where is the compensation going to come from???
    Make ALL Motor Vehicle dealers, install SEATBELTS in all vechicles... Give amenesty and moratorium for 6 months and then book em danno???

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  6. Bernard, here in Papua New Guinea, no one follows traffic rules. Authorities must now come down hard with an iron fist.

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  7. Anonymous8:50 PM

    we shall devise strategies to govern these reckless drivers that treat government roads as racing tracks. please, for the lives of the innocent that perished. I have recently been to the terrible crash site near ragiampun SDA church and observed the remains of the buses which collided. just a pot hole to avoid and life was no more as one could have thought is difficult to accept. let alone the reasons explaining this disaster are too numerous that with the current boom in the countrys economic growth, it is likley that similar or worse accidents could re-occur. Now, options for prevention of such with safety being the prime concern list conscious driving with the right attitude, strict regulation on issuing drivers licence, limit routes of buses/change of drivers between main town centres, major road upgrades for the national highway from lae up to tari and many other reasons that promote the saftey of travelling paasengers and PMV drivers. This accident sends a message that this country needs a major upgrade on national highways. Since Lae city is the countrys commercial hub and busiest sea port why the many reasons for LNG stake holders to polish up the roads so that trucking companies that transport their goods up the highway that share the same road with PMV buses could benefit. hey!, its the lifeline of this country, roads link and create oportunity for economic growth. we could vision this as a real development and a distribution of the economic wealth that has been 'frozen up' in certain provinces. Beware! if Giant Helicopters are used to move machineries and goods, then our roads will be in sorry state and the list of unexpected calamities rolls on.

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  8. Fix the roads, for our children's sake!

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  9. Anonymous1:12 PM

    LUTHER WENGER SHOULD BE HELD ENTIRELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATH OF THE 38 PEOPLE.HE IS A COMPLETE SELF-CENTERED,IGNORANT ONE WHO DOESN'T DESERVE TO BE THE GOVERNOR.FROM TIME TO TIME HE HAS BEEN INFORMED THROUGH MEDIA OF THE THE DETERIORATING ROAD CONDITIONS IN AND TO LAE CITY AND AND HAD TURNED A BLIND EYE EVER SINCE.HE HAS FORGOTTON THE VERY REASON HE IS IN OFFICE.WHAT A GOVERNOR!

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  10. The tragic incident of Papua New Guinea road accident resulted in the death of 40 people. The casualty figure might have increased further had the villagers not assisted survivors from the horrific road accident. More no of people are getting hurt or losing their lives in fatal road accidents these days. Road accident and mishaps are quite common. They can happen for a variety of reasons, and have as many consequences. Some merely cause a few scratches - on the car or to your person, while some are much more impactful - damaging your property and handicapping you - for a decent amount of time. Whatever the impact, determining the cause is an important, actually, THE important part of settling an accident compensation claim. A personal injury lawyer will help you in this respect. For more information visit Personal injury lawyers .

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  11. Anonymous3:20 AM

    Transport Minister should implement a tough transport Law's and ask everyone to retake their license test within next three months. License test should be based on tough guidance and proper road driving test rather then driving in open field. Until and unless Transport minister and official do something drastic these accident will never stops.

    Traffic Control Signage

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