Seven dead and a broken well: Residents of Keur Serigne Diabel are fed up after another fatal accident

In Keur Serigne Diabel, grief quickly gave way to outrage. The day after the burial of Badiane Mame Sall, a shopkeeper fatally struck by a 4x4 vehicle on the side of the National Highway on Saturday, September 26, incomprehension prevails. For the village community, this latest tragedy illustrates a prolonged failure of road safety on this particularly accident-prone stretch of road.

Determined to make their voices heard, the villagers blocked traffic for several hours. Their main demand is the immediate installation of speed bumps at the entrances and exits of the town to force drivers to slow down.

Repeated alerts went unanswered

The local population points out that this tragedy is not an isolated incident. Following a meeting held on August 8, 2025, an official report outlining the dangers of the Keur Serigne Diabel – Mbadianène road was sent to the sub-prefect. Villagers had already recorded at least seven deaths caused by successive collisions on this stretch of road, which was also marked by the fatal accident of a child on August 14, 2025.

The vulnerability of the site is reinforced by the concentration of human activities: the presence of shops spread along the road, a local market, a motorcycle taxi garage and a customs control post which generate permanent pedestrian traffic.

Inadequate water infrastructure reignites the protests.

In addition to road safety concerns, the demonstration served as a platform to denounce the prolonged breakdown of the village's well, which has been out of service for nearly a year. This situation deprives Keur Serigne Diabel and several surrounding villages of drinking water, forcing households to rely on traditional wells and hand pumps.

Faced with this accumulation of grievances, the residents are demanding clear commitments from the territorial and technical authorities, along with a precise timetable for the installation of speed bumps and the recommissioning of the hydraulic structure.