1 dead, 72 injured in road accidents

ZARANJ/CHARIKAR (Pajhwok): One person was killed and 72 others were wounded in two separate crashes in southwestern Nimroz and central Parwan provinces on Sunday, officials said.

A truck driver was killed and 54 passengers of a bus were wounded in a crash on the Zaranj-Dilaram highway in Nimroz around 8am, the 210th Maiwand Military Corps spokesman said.

Capt. Sher Ahmad told Pajhwok Afghan News the wounded men were taken to the Afghan National Army (ANA) Hospital in Dilaram district and women were evacuated to Zaranj Civil Hospital.

Five of the wounded are in critical condition. He said that the bus driver had escaped but ANA soldiers were trying to arrest him.

Mohammad Hashim Noorzai, the Khashrod district chief in Nimroz province, said the bus belonged to the Ahmad Shah Abdali Transport Service and carrying passengers from Kandahar to Zaranj.

He blamed the accident on high speed.

Meanwhile, 18 passengers were wounded in another accident in Parwan province. Traffic official Mehrabuddin said that the incident took place in the morning when a bus veered off the road after colliding with a car.

Eighteen people including four children and four women were wounded in the accident, he said, adding the bus was moving from Kabul to Balkh province.

A doctor in Parwan civil hospital, Mohammad Eshaq Nasimi, confirmed receiving the 18 wounded people and said their health condition was stable.

mds/mud