9 footballers among 11 dead in Jawzjan collision

SHEBERGHAN (PAN): Nine Afghan footballers were among 11 people killed and 36 others wounded in a head-on collision in the northern Jawzjan province, officials said on Thursday.

The accident took place on Thursday night when a passenger bus crashed into a fuel tanker in the Chaghcha area on the outskirts of Shiberghan on Shiberghan-Mazar-i-Sharif highway.

Both drivers were among the fatalities, provincial police chief, Brig. Gen. Abdul Aziz Ghairat, told Pajhwok Afghan News. The Jawzjan players were travelling to Kabul for supporting their team that is taking part in a football tournament in the capital.

The incident occurred due to the violation of traffic rules by the fuel tanker driver, Gen. Ghairat said. The injured were evacuated to Jawzjan Civil Hospital.

Six of the wounded people were slightly hurt while four others were in critical condition, said the hospital director, Dr. Mirwais Amini.

myn/mud