Six Football Players Killed in a Bus Accident in Africa

In Togo Africa, six soccer players have been killed in a bus accident while twenty – eight (28) others were injured.

The six football players killed in the accident were all members of the Etiole Filante team. The accident occurred while the team is heading to Togo’s second largest city - in Sokode last Saturday for a match scheduled for Sunday.

According to reports, a burst coming from one of the tires was heard by the passengers before the bus dropped over and fell down on a ravine causing it to catch fire.

Apart from the six football players who died on the accident, twenty – eight (28) others were seriously injured. One of the survivors stated that they can’t even remember how they managed to get out of the flaming bus.

Some of the victims reportedly died due to burns and not from the accident itself. Most of the players whom were able to get out of the bus were all in the front rows.

Casualties were assisted by the Togo government as ordered by President Faure Gnassingbe. They were brought to the military wing of the Lome Central Hospital for immediate medical treatment. An ambulance was used by a delegation headed by sports minister Christophe Tchao to transport the victims.

The Lome based football team – Etiole Filante, which means shooting star is the seven time champion of Togo’s National Team. The group also became a runner – up in Africa’s continental club competition way back in 1968.

It was only last year when the team experienced the same fatal tragedy in a bus, when their vehicle was attacked by a gun while heading to the African Cup of Nations Tournament in Angola. The incident caused the death of the two of their team officials as well as injuring other players. Now, yet again six of their lead players were killed from this accident

Year 2012 is fast approaching and this seems to be dreadful coincidence. Hopefully on the next coming year, no more tragic bus accidents will occur and that the football federation will be more attentive in providing safety and security for the team.

The main cause of the accident was not clearly mentioned on the reports aside from the busted tire. If anyone suffers from an injury caused by an accident while in either private or public premises, he or she may file for a premise liability claim. If proven guilty of negligence, the football committee may be held liable under the existing law.

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