25 killed, 27 injured in Kabul road accident

Kabul: At least 25 passengers lost their lives and 27 others sustained injuries when a bus overturned in the west of the Afghan capital Kabul, on Wednesday morning, an official from the Ministry of Interior Affairs reported.

The incident occurred in the Arghandi area, along the highway linking southern Kandahar to Kabul, and was caused by reckless driving, Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesman for the ministry, told Xinhua news agency.

Police and emergency services quickly responded, transporting the injured to nearby health centres for treatment, Qani added.

This accident follows a devastating week for road safety in Afghanistan, with around 100 fatalities reported. The deadliest incident took place early this week in western Herat province, when a passenger bus caught fire after colliding with a truck, leaving 79 dead, including women and children.

On August 24, a road accident claimed the lives of three passengers and left four others injured when a vehicle veered off the road and flipped over in northern Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province, the provincial police said.

The incident occurred in the Pul-e-Shopay area of Kohistan district on August 24, where a passenger vehicle turned turtle due to reckless driving, said the provincial police spokesman Ehsanullah Kamgar.

Among the deceased were a woman and a child, who died at the scene. The four injured were rapidly shifted to local health centres for treatment, Kamgar said.

On August 22, 12 people lost their lives and four others sustained injuries as a tractor slid into a river in the southern Afghanistan Helmand province, provincial Director for Information and Culture, Hafiz Abdul Bari Rashid said.

The deadly accident took place in Garmsir district, claiming the lives of three women and nine children on the spot and injuring four others, all children, the official added.

Security personnel reached the site of the accident on time and rescued 14 others, the official said.

In Afghanistan’s countryside, the villagers often use tractors and animals as instruments to transport people and agricultural products.

IANS