At least 30 people died in road accidents during Senegal's yearly Grand Magal pilgrimage in which Muslims converge in the holy city of Touba, officials said on Saturday.

The number of road-related deaths was up precipitously from 2024, when 16 people died, the National Fire Brigade said in a statement.

The Grand Magal is celebrated by the Sufi Mouride brotherhood and attracts a few million people to the central-western city to commemorate French colonial authorities' 1895 exiling of the group's leader Sheikh Amadou Bamba.

The Grand Magal is one of the most important dates on the religious calendar in Senegal, and involves reciting Bamba's poems and praying by his tomb.

'Speeding and imprudent driving behaviour'

Overall, a total of 33 deaths occurred related to this year's Grand Magal, which was celebrated last Tuesday and Wednesday, Yatma Dieye, head of the National Fire Brigade's public relations division, said.

The Brigade tended to 341 road accidents and seven fire emergencies, he said. It additionally cared for 571 medical patients.

Dieye added that a total of 2,685,000 litres (709,300 gallons) of water was distributed to pilgrims and the public.

Authorities attributed this year's rise in traffic deaths to speeding and "imprudent" driving behaviours on roads made slippery from rain.