Five killed, 44 injured after bus overturns in Afghanistan’s Baghlan
Kabul, Dec 21 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) At least five people were killed and 44 others injured after a bus overturned in the Salang area of Afghanistan’s Baghlan province, according to an official statement on Sunday.
In a statement shared on X, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Works (MoPW) spokesperson Mohammad Ashraf Haqshenas stated that the incident happened in the Shawal area, north of Salang, at around 2 am on Saturday (local time), local media outlet Pajhwok Afghan News reported.
Haqshenas said that a passenger bus veered off the road and overturned due to reckless driving, claiming the lives of five people and injuring 44 others. He added that the injured were taken to the Khanjan district health centre for treatment.
The ministry asked people travelling on the route to follow the instructions given by officials and observe traffic rules. Authorities said that personnel were carrying out snow-clearing operations at several points on the Salang highway.
On December 15, local police said at least three people were killed and 16 others injured in two separate traffic accidents in Afghanistan in the past 24 hours.
A head-on collision between two vehicles on the Kabul-Kandahar highway in eastern Ghazni province claimed the lives of two people and injured two women. In the northern Jawzjan province, separate traffic incidents caused the death of one person and injured 14 others.
Authorities have attributed the accidents mainly to reckless driving, highlighting the dangers caused by overcrowded and poorly maintained roads in Afghanistan.
On December 13, provincial police spokesperson Bilal Urozgani stated that at least two people were killed and nine others injured in a traffic accident in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province.
The deadly accident occurred when a vehicle overturned on a main road, the official said, Xinhua News Agency reported. The injured were taken to the nearest hospital for treatment.
The official blamed reckless driving for the accident, warning that driver negligence on overcrowded and poorly maintained roads continues to take lives.
