Algerian government authorities reported a traffic accident Wednesday in the south of the country. According to Algeria's Civil Protection, a national emergency agency, the incident occurred in the province of Tamanrasset, on the N1 highway, also known as the Trans-Saharan highway.
During the early morning local time, a pick-up type utility vehicle collided with a passenger bus near the village of Outoul. After the collision, both vehicles burst into flames. At least 34 people were burned to death in the accident. According to Civil Protection, 11 others were also injured. Authorities reported Wednesday that they worked for hours to remove all the bodies from the burned bus.
The Algerian National Gendarmerie published several images of the wreckage on its social media account for road warnings and alerts.
The province of Tamanrasset and the southern region of Algeria is a difficult area for the authorities to access, and the state’s main presence is the military personnel based in the area. After its civil war, Algeria made a tacit pact with extremists to give them free rein in the region bordering northern Mali, which became a hotbed of instability. Official authorities do not, however, seem to indicate that this accident has any relation to the armed groups occupying the region.
