(AP)—Some 38 teenage girls, chosen to take part in Swaziland’s traditional reed dance festival, were killed instantly when the flatbed truck on which they were riding crashed into another vehicle.
The girls were being driven to the royal homestead of Swazi King Mswati III. Some 40,000 girls take part in the eight-day ceremony, singing and dancing for the king, who often selects one of them to become his new wife. Swaziland is polygamous and the king has 14 wives.
The event, which came to a climax Monday, drew thousands of spectators, who watched as the young girls swayed while singing traditional songs, said witnesses. Mswati joined the dancing while Ghana’s Ashanti king watched from the stands.
But there was no solemn moment of remembrance and prayer for the crash victims, prompting one dancer to criticize how the matter was handled.
About Post Author
