BAMAKO - At least 31 people were killed in Mali on Tuesday when a bus plunged off a bridge over a river near the southern town of Kenieba, the transport ministry said.

The bus had been en route to Burkina Faso when the accident occurred at around 1700 local time, it said, adding Malians and citizens of elsewhere in the West African subregion were among the victims.

"The probable cause was the driver's failure to control the vehicle," it said.

Road accidents are more frequent in West Africa, where public transport is often overloaded and poorly regulated.

Africa accounts for about one quarter of the world's traffic deaths even though the continent has barely 2% of the world's vehicle fleet, U.N. data showed in 2023. REUTERS