NAIROBI, June 24 (Reuters) - Twenty people were killed after a minibus and a lorry transporting sand collided in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha, police said on Sunday.

All the dead were in the minibus when the lorry, while trying to overtake another vehicle, hit it.

"The 18 tonne lorry carrying sand tried to pass another vehicle unsuccessfully and hit the minibus. Nineteen people in the minibus died on the spot, while another died later," Basilio Matei, police commander for Arusha region, said by phone.

Matei said the bus was carrying a legal number of passengers. He added that the lorry driver had been arrested and would appear in court on Monday.

The accident, which occurred on Saturday, comes barely a week after a bus overturned in Singida region in north western Tanzania, caught fire and killed 16 people.

Fatal road accidents are common in Africa, where roads and vehicles are poorly maintained and speeding rife.

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