Scores killed in Malawi road crash

Blantyre - Twenty-four people were killed and another 26 injured when a five-ton lorry overturned in northern Malawi, police said on Tuesday.

"The cause of the accident was due to overspeeding as the driver failed to negotiate a sharp bend," Clifford Bandawe of Mzimba district police said. The driver suffered minor injuries.

The accident happened on the main highway linking the capital city Lilongwe to the north on Monday night. The vehicle was carrying 50 people.

Those injured were transferred to the main hospital in Mzuzu, some 100 kilometres away.

Drivers in rural Malawi often overload vehicles with passengers, and road crashes kill an average of four people per day in the impoverished country.