1 Jun 2009

Fatal crash in PNG kills at least 16 people

2:02 pm on 1 June 2009

A head-on truck crash in Papua New Guinea killed at least 16 people and injured several others at the weekend.

Two trucks, each carrying about 30 people, collided on the main highway near Bereina in Central Province.

A police spokesperson, Dominic Kakas, says fourteen passengers and both drivers died instantly.

"In the early evening over the weekend two vehicles, there was a head on collision and from reports there were about 16 deaths from that incident."

Dominic Kakas says several people have suffered serious injuries and are in hospital.

According to local reports, a young boy has since died from his injuries in hospital.