52 dead, 73 injured as buses, fuel tanker collide in SE Afghanistan

People transfer an injured man to a hospital after a traffic accident in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, northern Afghanistan, on March 24, 2016. ©Xinhua

At least 52 people have lost their lives and 73 others sustained injuries after two passenger buses collided head-on with a fuel tanker in Afghanistan’s southeastern province of Ghazni.

Aghagul Jawid Salangi, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said the incident took place on a highway in the Muqur district of the province, located about 150 kilometers (95 miles) southwest of the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Sunday morning.

The road connects the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, situated 389 kilometer (241 miles) south of Kabul, to the capital. 

Mohammadullah Ahmadi, director of the traffic department in Ghazni Province, blamed reckless driving for the tragic event.

He says all three vehicles caught fire after the crash, and that local residents are helping firefighters and rescue worker pull survivors from the wreckage.

Salangi said the death toll is expected to further climb as most of the injured people are in a critical condition.

Two injured men receive treatment at a hospital after a traffic accident in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, northern Afghanistan, on March 24, 2016. ©Xinhua

On April 2, at least 11 people, among them women and children, were killed in a road accident involving three vehicles just outside the western Afghan city of Herat.

Rauf Ahmadi, a spokesman for the provincial police chief, said seven people were also injured. He noted that the crash was the result of carelessness.

Eight persons were killed and as many injured in a traffic accident in Afghanistan's northern province of Balkh on March 24.

Mohammad Zahir, a local police chief, said three sedans were involved in the crash which occurred along a road in the Chimtal district of the province.

Traffic accidents are not uncommon across Afghanistan, where roads are poorly maintained and drivers routinely ignore traffic laws.

Afghan traffic officials have described reckless driving on congested roads and highways as the main cause of road accidents in the war-battered Asian country.