Guinea

A bridge collapsed under an overloaded truck in Guinea, throwing scores of passengers into a river and killing at least 70, the West African country’s state radio reported on Wednesday. The truck was ferrying merchandise and people back from a local market near the south-eastern town of Gueckedou when the accident occurred.

Sixty-five people were killed and seven injured in the West African state of Guinea after the lorry in which they were travelling toppled into a lake. Officials said the accident late on Monday near the town of Gueckedou, about 700km south-east of the capital, was one of the deadliest in decades. The van toppled into the water when it tried to cross a narrow bridge, according to survivors.

Businesses, government offices and schools remained closed in towns across Guinea on Monday as people attended memorial services for at least 113 victims of a crackdown on political protests. The shutdown defied a military directive that people in the West African country go back to work at once after a crippling general strike.

With the country under martial law and in the grip of a general strike, Guinea’s union leaders held new talks on Wednesday with President Lansana Conte’s government on how to end weeks of unrest that have left scores dead. At least 113 people have been killed since the protests started in January.

Up to a week ago, Guinea’s private radio stations were broadcasting dramatic first-hand accounts of violent street clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces. But since President Lansana Conte decreed martial law on February 12, non-government broadcasters are either off the air or playing innocuous music.

Guinean unions have called off a crippling 18-day strike in which 59 people died after securing a deal with embattled President Lasana Conte that will put a prime minister at the head of government. ”We declare the suspension of the general strike launched January 10 and urge Guinean workers … to resume work,” said union leader Ibrahima Fofana.

Up to 11 people were killed in clashes in Guinea’s capital on Monday between police and protesters supporting a general strike aimed at ousting President Lansana Conte, a hospital doctor said. ”There are at least 100 injured. The number of dead can be estimated at 11,” a doctor at the Donka Hospital in Conakry, who asked not to be named, told the media.

Guinean riot police sealed off the centre of Conakry on Monday as shooting broke out in several neighbourhoods where protesters took to the streets to support a general strike. The protests, on the 13th day of the crippling strike aimed at ousting President Lansana Conte, followed several days of violence which has killed at least eight people.

At a crossroads in the Avenue of the Republic in Guinea’s capital, Conakry, a group of traffic police lounge by their motorbikes while one of them waves down a rusting taxi and plucks a few crumpled, dirty notes from the hand of its driver. And so it continues all day, with no concern for passers-by on the pot-holed pavements cluttered with hawkers.

South Africa soon will open an embassy in Guinea and the two countries plan to scrap entry visas between them, their leaders said on Tuesday. South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki and Guinea’s Lansana Conte said their countries had also agreed to boost trade and economic cooperation in the sectors of transport, mining, water and hydro electricity generation in Guinea.

The capital of Guinea, Conakry, was at a standstill but calm on Wednesday, two days after security forces fired on protesting students and killed 18. Tens of thousands of high school students rioted on Monday after their final exams were cancelled because of a nationwide work stoppage.

The government of Guinea on Tuesday confirmed that 10 people had been killed during clashes between security forces and student protesters over the cancellation of school exams. Spokesperson Moussa Solano said ”the government regrets the incidents and the loss of human life.

Guinean police and military fired tear gas to disperse angry high-school students on Monday who tried to stage street protests after they failed to sit final exams due to a teachers’ strike. In the capital, police and soldiers fired tear gas to keep away several thousands of students who tried to march on President Lansana Conte’s palace.

Less than a month after taking office, Guinea’s new Prime Minister has begun to woo western donors and opposition parties at home by pledging more transparency in government and the lifting of a ban on private radio stations. A fast depreciating Guinean franc has meant importing rice, now selling for per 50kg bag — more than many Guineans earn in a month.

At least 12 people were killed and 40 injured when a tanker truck exploded near the town of Kindia, east of the Guinean capital, corroborating sources said on Friday. The blast occurred overnight on Wednesday when the tanker truck crashed into a freight truck that was badly parked at the roadside and difficult to see in the dark, witnesses said.