At least 30 people killed in road accidents during annual pilgrimage in Senegal

At least 30 people died in road accidents during Senegal's yearly Grand Magal pilgrimage in which Muslims converge in the holy city of Touba, officials said on Saturday.

The number of road-related deaths was up precipitously from 2024, when 16 people died, the National Fire Brigade said in a statement.

The Grand Magal is celebrated by the Sufi Mouride brotherhood and attracts a few million people to the central-western city to commemorate French colonial authorities' 1895 exiling of the group's leader Sheikh Amadou Bamba.

The Grand Magal is one of the most important dates on the religious calendar in Senegal, and involves reciting Bamba's poems and praying by his tomb.

'Speeding and imprudent driving behaviour'