The Government has extended its sympathies to the families of the victims of a gruesome road accident which claimed the lives of 18 people and left two in critical condition in Rwamagana District, yesterday.

The message of support was conveyed by the Minister for Health, Dr Agnès Binagwaho, last evening, as she visited the two injured victims at the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK).

She had earlier visited the accident scene in Kabuga Ka Musha in Rwamagana, Eastern Province.

"On behalf of President Paul Kagame, I am here to show government’s support to the families of the deceased and to comfort the injured,” she said.

The minister condemned breach of traffic rules, particularly speeding, with has been blamed for the gruesome accident. 

The accident involved a Tanzania-registered truck which ran over a passenger service van that carried 19 people, killing all on board but two. The other victim was a child who was working on a roadside farm.

Dr Théobald Hategekimana, the director-general of CHUK, said there was hope for the two patients to survive, adding they were both in a stable condition. They would be operated on as they suffered fractures, he said on Monday.

"Their injuries are not life-threatening, they are in stable condition and conscious, and we hope they will soon get better as they undergo surgery,” he added.

One of the injured, who identified himself as Etienne Nsanzimana, told The New Times that he was in the minibus, heading from Kigali to Rwamagana, when the truck ran over them from the opposite direction.

"The car was I was travelling in was not speeding, it was the trailer that was speeding, it was horrible,” he said.