Road accident kills 8, injures 4 in Afghanistan

Kabul, Sep 2 (IANS) Eight travellers lost their lives and four others were injured as their car turned turtle in northern Afghanistan's Jawzjan province, provincial police spokesman Qari Abdul Sattar said on Tuesday.

Blaming reckless driving for the deadly mishap, the official added that the accident took place in Aqcha district on Monday afternoon, killing eight passengers on the spot and injuring four others

Trampling the traffic rules and regulations, the driver took 12 passengers in a car, while its capacity is no more than five people, the official added, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Road accidents have claimed more than 100 lives in Afghanistan over the past couple of weeks, and the deadliest accident was registered in August in the western Herat province when 79 passengers lost their lives.

On August 27, at least 25 passengers lost their lives and 27 others sustained injuries when a bus overturned in the west of the Afghan capital Kabul, an official from the Ministry of Interior Affairs reported.

The incident occurred in the Arghandi area, along the highway linking southern Kandahar to Kabul, and was caused by reckless driving, Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesman for the ministry, said.

Police and emergency services quickly responded, transporting the injured to nearby health centres for treatment, Qani added.

On August 24, a road accident claimed the lives of three passengers and left four others injured when a vehicle veered off the road and flipped over in northern Afghanistan's Badakhshan province, the provincial police said.

The incident occurred in the Pul-e-Shopay area of Kohistan district on August 24, where a passenger vehicle turned turtle due to reckless driving, said the provincial police spokesman Ehsanullah Kamgar.

Among the deceased were a woman and a child, who died at the scene. The four injured were rapidly shifted to local health centres for treatment, Kamgar said.

--IANS

int/akl/sd