TBILISI, Georgia (AFP) — Ex-Soviet Georgia on Monday announced a day of mourning after 17 people were killed when a mini-bus plunged 80 metres (260 feet) off a mountain road.
Police said the accident took place on Sunday in the country’s Mtskheta-Mtianeti region in the Caucasus Mountains.
The mini-bus “fell over a rocky slope” while travelling in the municipality of Dusheti, killing 17 people and leaving three seriously injured, the interior ministry said in a statement.
Emergency workers evacuated the injured for medical treatment and police were investigating the cause.
The government declared Tuesday a day of national mourning, with flags to fly at half-mast across the country.
Georgia has a notoriously bad traffic safety record, with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) regularly ranking it among the worst of its members in road deaths per capita.
Activists have for years urged the authorities to improve the quality of its roads and campaign against reckless driving.
© Agence France-Presse