Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso: Twenty-two people drowned after the minibus they were travelling in veered off a road in southwest Burkina Faso, the government in Ouagadougou said on Friday.

A total of ‘22 people were drowned,’ in Thursday’s accident ‘when a minibus fell into a dam in Kiebalogo, on national route 27,’  the government said in a statement.

Kiébalogo is situated 45 kilometres (28 miles) from Burkina’s second city Bobo Dioulasso.

The accident also left eight people injured.

There was no other details of the accident.

‘Investigations are underway to determine the exact cause,’ the official statement said.

Road accidents are frequent occurrences in Burkina Faso with the poor state of roads and vehicles often to blame.