Maputo — In the last two weeks, 105 people have died and over 200 have been seriously injured in traffic accidents on Mozambican roads, according to Pedro Cossa, the spokesperson for the national police command.

Day after day, the Mozambican media have been reporting gruesome carnage on the country's roads. The latest major accident was on Monday morning when a truck collided with a minibus in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, 80 kilometres south of the provincial capital, Pemba.

In this head-on collision, ten people were killed and 34 injured, seven of them seriously. The minibus was owned by a private transport company taking passengers from Pemba to Nampula. Its maximum capacity was for 30 passengers but, according to a report in the independent daily "O Pais", it was carrying 39. It is believed that excessive speed by the truck, combined with poor visibility due to early morning mist, caused the accident.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Cossa said that most of the lethal accidents involve the minibuses used for much of the passenger transport in the country, and known colloquially as "chapas". The police regard the chapa drivers as the main culprits for death on the roads because of their disrespect for elementary highway rules.

"There's a lack of civilised behaviour on the public highway", said Cossa. "The chapas treat the roads like racing tracks, and kill people every day. Each owner of a chapa should see how the driver he employs is behaving on the road".

The police, together with the National Traffic Institute (INAV) and the National Road Administration (ANE) are currently undertaking a road safety campaign called "Viagem Segura" (Safe Journey).

Under this campaign, 16,530 vehicles were inspected last week. 118 of their drivers, suspected of drinking alcohol, were given a breathalyser test. 55 of them were over the limit for alcohol in their bloodstream.

The police also imposed 2,855 fines for traffic offences. They seized 308 drivers' licenses, and 89 vehicles in an irregular state.

Cossa also spoke of a grisly murder in the western city of Tete, in which the victim had been decapitated.

On 5 July, the police had found a severed head. Later on, a body without a head was found. This body was missing its genitals - which suggests that the young man concerned had been murdered in order to extract body parts for witchcraft rituals.

The police are currently trying to locate the family of this so far unnamed victim.

Mm/pf (418)