Bus Crash Kills 9 Footballers from Guinean Second Division Team

A bus crash in Guinea on Thursday has left nine footballers dead and several more injured.

BBC Sport reported that Etoile de Guinee, who ply their trade in the Guinean second tier, were making a 650-kilometre journey from capital Conakry to Kankan.

The crash occurred outside Mamou, 250 kilometres into the journey, as the team made their way to what would have been their first match of the season.

Football journalist Philippe Auclair relayed a statement from the Guinean Football Federation, which said nine players had died:

Per the BBC, reports said injured players who were left in a serious condition are being taken back to Conakry for treatment.

Liverpool midfielder and Guinea international Naby Keita offered his condolences on Instagram.

It is the second fatal bus crash involving a football team to occur in Guinea this year.

On January 30, a coach carrying first-division side Wakriya AC late at night crashed into a stationary truck in Friguiadi, outside Conakry.

Alfred Kargbo, who was a new signing for Wakriya, died at the scene before team-mate Aboubacar Camara and the bus driver, N'Fa Laye, died the next day in hospital.