65 die when truck overturns in Guinea

An overloaded truck overturned while crossing a bridge, sending people, bags of cement and sacks of rice into the river below and killing as many as 65 people, state radio reported Tuesday.

The truck was ferrying merchandise and passengers back from a local market near the southeastern town of Gueckedou when the accident occurred Sunday, state-run RTG radio reported.

The truck became unbalance5d and tipped over while crossing the bridge. Many of the dead drowned, suffocated under the heavy cargo, RTG said.

At least 20 people were injured and taken to hospital, the radio station said.

Guinea, a country of 10 million on Africa's West Coast is deeply impoverished despite having half the world's supply of bauxite _ the raw material used to make aluminum _ as well as iron ore, gold and diamonds. Unable to afford the price of a bus ticket, many Guineans hitch rides on crowded trucks.