38 girls, young women killed in Swaziland crash, says group

[Little Tich]

Source: Yahoo! News / AP

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — At least 38 girls and young women were killed in a crash while travelling to Swaziland's most famous traditional festival, a rights group said on Saturday.

An additional 20 others were injured when the truck they were in collided with another vehicle on Friday, the Swaziland Solidarity Network said in a statement. Members of the Swaziland Defense Force alerted the rights group to the accident and gave the number of deaths, said Lucky Lukhele, the solidarity network's spokesman.

The young women and girls were travelling on the back of an open truck, the rights group said.

Swazi police at first refused to give any information on the accident but later disputed the death toll provided by the rights group. Only 13 people were killed in the crash, said police spokesman Khulani Mamba.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/38-girls-young-women-killed-swaziland-crash-says-094907726.html

[LiberalLovinLug]

1. how awful

[XemaSab]

2. Women are disposable everywhere

n/t

[daleo]

3. All for the chance to be the umpteenth wife of an absolute monarch

About 40,000 young women participate in the eight-day reed dance ceremony in which they sing and dance, usually bare-breasted, as they bring reeds to reinforce the windbreak around the royal residence.

During the reed dance, the king often selects one of the young women to become one of his wives. Swaziland is polygamous and the king has more than a dozen wives.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/swaziland-rights-group-says-38-girls-young-women-killed-in-crash-1.3208438