The army truck had been heading for a funeral service for a soldier who recently died when the accident happened in mid-afternoon, on one of the hills that surround the centre of Freetown.

"I was burying my cousin and just got news that my sister was involved in an accident on their way to the funeral," Mabinty Kamara said at the military war grave, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Eight soldiers and three civilians have been confirmed dead," while 70 others were injured, the army said in a statement citing its medical chief Stephen Sevalie.

Of the injured, 57 remain in the Freetown military hospital with injuries ranging from minor to severe, the statement added. They have been visited there by government officials.

The death toll may increase, a mortuary technician told AFP.

An investigation has been opened into the incident.