ATAKPAME, Togo — At least six Togolese soccer players were killed and another 28 people critically injured Saturday after their team bus crashed into a ravine and caught fire, the Togo government announced.
The team bus for club side Etoile Filante was on its way to Sokode for a Sunday league game when it crashed in the city of Atakpame — about 99 miles (159km) north of the Togo capital Lome, goal.com reported.
The government said a tire burst, causing the bus to flip and plunge down the ravine.
Togo president Faure Gnassingbe called for the victims to be taken to a military hospital in Lome.
The incident comes less than two years after the Togo national soccer team bus was the target of a terrorist attack on the way to the African Cup of Nations in January, 2010. The driver, Togo assistant manager and media officer were all killed.