2 Jun 2009

PNG truck crash death tolls now 21

1:37 pm on 2 June 2009

The number of people killed in one of Papua New Guinea's worst road accidents has risen to 21.

The horrific head-on truck crash killed 17 people on the weekend but four more injured died on Monday night in Port Moresby's General Hospital.

The two trucks, which were each carrying 28 people as passengers, collided on Saturday near Bereina in Central Province, about 100km west of Port Moresby.

PNG's Post Courier reports that questions are being raised over the hospital's capacity to deal with the large number of patients who flooded into the emergency ward after the accident.

The paper reported that one of the trucks, heading to Gulf Province, hit another truck travelling to Port Moresby when it cut a corner.

Relatives of the injured remain outside the hospital fearing the death toll could continue to rise.