Two passengers died in an accident at the Luri River crossing, while trying to cross in high water yesterday. The vehicle was carrying four people from Mundri in Western Equatoria State.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj this morning at Luri River, Juba County Commissioner Stephen Wani Michael noted that the river takes the lives of travelers every year. He blamed the bus driver for not cooperating with the police at the site.
“Up to now the people are continuing to disregard the police that we deploy down here, because those police are supposed to direct them and to stop any vehicle when the river is full. Unfortunately yesterday it was violated that is why lives were lost,” the official said.
The commissioner said that police were posted at the site since 2013 to guide travelers because sometimes people do not know whether the river is full or not.
However, according to an eyewitness at the site, there were no police at the bridge directing traffic when the car came to the bridge yesterday. Seven people have died last year at the same bridge.
The commissioner noted that the national government plans to build another improved bridge.
But he said due to the crisis in the country all the development partners have gone and the government has no capacity to build it now.
For his part, the director General of Traffic Police, Kon John Akot said, “These people arrived yesterday at 3:00 p.m. When it reached midnight, they said they wanted to cross the river. The police told them to wait until the water has subsided, but they refused.”
Akot appealed to drivers not to cross the river when it was high, and urged the police not to allow the passengers to cross the river when full.
The Luri River bridge lies on a road connecting Juba to Western Equatoria and beyond into Bahr al Ghazal.