9 killed, 31 injured in south Afghanistan road accident

QALAT, Afghanistan — At least nine commuters were killed and 31 others injured in a road accident in Afghanistan's southern Zabul Province on Thursday, said the provincial police in a statement.

The deadly mishap occurred in the provincial capital Qalat when a passenger bus collided with another vehicle coming from the opposite direction, killing nine people on the spot and injuring 31 others, some of them in critical condition.

This is the third road accident in the country since Wednesday morning. On Wednesday, a total of 24 people were killed and 15 others injured in two separate road accidents in the northern Sari Pul and central Bamiyan provinces.

A minibus plunged into a ravine in Sari Pul on Wednesday, provincial police spokesman Din Mohammad Nazari said on Thursday. The victims included 12 women, eight children and four men. Only one woman survived, but she was badly injured.

Also on Wednesday, at least 14 commuters were injured after a passenger van overturned in Bamiyan.

The accident occurred at about 11 am when the driver lost control of the vehicle in Panjab district, a statement from the provincial police said. All of the injured, some in critical condition, have been taken to the provincial hospital.

Ramshackle roads, reckless driving and lack of safety measures are mostly to blame for deadly road accidents in mountainous and war-ravaged Afghanistan.

Another major cause of deadly road accidents is terrorist attacks.

On Tuesday, a car bombing in Afghanistan's northeast killed a provincial deputy governor and his driver, a local official said.

Ten people were also wounded in the blast. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing in Faizabad city in Badakhshan Province.

Xinhua - Agencies