Road accident warning triangle - courtesy image

Police authorities in Lakes State said two people were killed in two separate road accidents in Rumbek East County late last week.

Lt Col. Daniel Majuec Mayek, the Director of Traffic Police in Lakes State said a teenage girl identified as Achol Arop Mapuor was hit and killed by a fuel tanker travelling from Juba to Wau on Thursday.

The police officer said the driver of the vehicle and fuel tanker have been detained pending investigations.

“What happened, there were some vehicles traveling from Wau to Juba and there was a girl there identified as Achol Arop Mapuor,” he said. “This girl was traveling on a bicycle and was cycling the bicycle. I don’t know what happened but the moving vehicle killed this girl on the road.”

In another incident, Col. Mayek said a 40-year-old man identified as Marial Dharuai Yor was found dead in a roadside pond along the road between Rumbek town and Rumbek East County.

The official said the man might fallen off his bike and drowned at night before being discovered the following morning.

“On his way, nobody knows what happened. He fell into a hole alongside which contains water and drown. In the following morning, he was found dead in the streaming water there with his motorbike,” he explained.

The police official called on motorists to avoid speeding, especially when driving at night, saying drivers are likely going to lose control and cause deadly accidents.

“It is when you drive slowly, this is when you can manage to reach safe to your destination and when you over speed. Immediately, you will die before you reach the destination and we have talked a lot to raise awareness on this issue but our people are not listening to us,” he said.