DAR ES SALAAM: At least 23 people have died after a bus crashed into a lorry in eastern Tanzania on Friday, the police said.

“The death toll is now 23” after one of those injured died, said police head of operations and training Liberatus Sabas.

A police chief in the eastern region of Morogoro, Fortunatus Muslim, said the accident occurred in Melela Kibaoni, some 200 kilometres (120 miles) west of the coastal city and economic hub Dar es Salaam.

“The truck driver, who was heading from the Dar es Salaam port to the Democratic Republic of Congo, was overtaking a motorbike when the two vehicles collided head-on,” he said. The bus was travelling in the other direction from the western city of Mbeya to the coastal city of Tanga, he added.