Twelve people died and a number of others were injured on Thursday when a bus in which they were travelling collided with a moving train at Kiberege in Tanzania's eastern region of Morogoro, police said.
Leonard Paulo, the Morogoro regional police commander, said the grisly accident occurred in the afternoon when the bus plying from Morogoro to Ifakara hit the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) train travelling from Mbeya to Dar es Salaam.
According to Paulo, six men, four women and two girls aged between five to six years died on the spot.
The police chief said the driver, who tried to cross a railway crossing without taking any precaution, ran away after the incident but police were hunting for him.
In September 2014 Tanzanian Minister for Transport Harrison Mwakyembe announced the formation a task force to look into a lasting solution to the east African nation's road accidents that are claiming tens of hundreds of lives.
Mwakyembe said the east African nation recorded 3,738 accidents that killed 1,075 people and injured 3,845 others in June, July and August this year.