44 dead, 76 injured in Afghanistan road accidents

KABUL: At least 44 commuters have been confirmed dead and 76 others were injured in two separate road accidents in east Afghanistan’s Ghazni province on Wednesday night, a local official reported Thursday.

The mishaps took place on the outskirts of Ghazni city and in the Andar district of the province, along the highway linking the capital Kabul with the southern Kandahar province, said Mullah Hamidullah Nesar, provincial director of information and culture.

According to Nesar, all the injured have been shifted to health centers for treatment, but most of their conditions were reported as critical.

Road accidents due to reckless driving on congested roads and lack of traffic signs on dilapidated highways are leading causes of death in the war-ravaged country, Xinhua news agency reported.

On Monday, a vehicle carrying a family fell into a ravine in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, claiming the lives of six, Xinhua news agency reported citing information received by the provincial department of information and culture.

The accident took place in the province’s Babaji district after the vehicle lost control and fell into a steep and deep ravine, killing six people, including women and children, on the spot, said the source.

Last week, six commuters had lost their lives and four others sustained injuries as a jeep plunged into a river in northern Badakhshan province.

Earlier this month, in an accident that took place in northern Jawzjan province on a highway linking the province with neighbouring Sari Pul province, one person was killed on the spot and 10 others were injured, Xinhua reported.

In another accident, a car veered off the road and overturned in Shahr-e-Safa district of southern Zabul province along a highway linking Kandahar with the national capital Kabul, killing two and injuring two others.