Children among 21 dead in Balkh accident

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (PAN): Fifteen children were among 21 people killed when a bus plunged into a canal in the northern province of Balkh on Saturday, officials said.

The speedy bus skidded off the road and plunged into a canal in Samar Qandyan village of Hisarak area of Balkh district in the morning, police spokesman, Sher Jan Durani, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

He linked the accident to speedy driving. The bus fell into Mushtaq canal, killing all passengers on the bus, he said.

The dead included 15 children, two men, and four women, a local official, Ghulam Sakhi Jafari, said.

Two children were missing, but area people had launched a search for them in the water, he said.

A resident of the district, Bismillah, said his wife and two children were killed in the incident.

Most of the victims were from same families who were returning from an engagement ceremony in Samarqandyan village when met the accident on their way back, he said.

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