Four nuns from the Congregation of Carmelite Missionary Sisters of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus have died in a road accident in Misungwi District, Mwanza Region.
The tragedy, which claimed the life of the congregation’s Superior General, Sister Nelina Semeoni (60), an Italian national, occurred at 1:50 a.m. on September 15 along the Usagara–Kigongo Ferry Road at Bukumbi Village.
Mwanza Regional Police Commander Wilbrod Mutafungwa said the accident involved a head-on collision between the nuns’ vehicle and a truck as they travelled from the Bukumbi Community to Mwanza Airport.
Others who perished include Sister Lilian Kapongo (55), a Tanzanian from Tabora and assistant to the Superior General, Sister Damaris Matheka (51), the head of Bukumbi Girls’ Secondary School from Kenya, Sister Stellamaris Muthin (48), also a Kenyan, and the driver, Boniphace Msonola (53).
One survivor, Sister Pauline Mipata (20), a student supervisor at Bukumbi Girls’ Secondary School, sustained injuries and is receiving treatment at Bugando Zonal Referral Hospital in Mwanza.
The accident has cast a shadow of grief over the Catholic community in Tanzania and beyond, with tributes pouring in for the nuns remembered for their devotion to education and missionary work.