Kabul, March 2 (IANS) At least three people were killed and six others injured in a highway accident in northern Afghanistan's Jawzjan province, the provincial police office said in a statement.
The incident occurred on Sunday when two high-speed vehicles collided due to reckless driving in the Hadbakhshi region along the Jawzjan-Sari Pul highway, killing both drivers and a female passenger on the spot and injuring six others, including two children, the statement added, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The injured were transported to a nearby hospital for treatment, according to the statement, which also urged drivers to strictly adhere to traffic rules to prevent further tragedies.
Deadly road accidents remain a persistent problem in war-torn Afghanistan, often attributed to deteriorating road conditions, reckless driving, and inadequate safety measures amid the country's challenging terrain and limited infrastructure.
Earlier on January 31, provincial police office said that three commuters were killed and two others sustained injuries in a road accident in northern Afghanistan's Baghlan province.
The fatal incident occurred when two speeding vehicles collided in the Qala-e-Baday region of Dushi district, killing three passengers, including a woman and a child on the spot and injuring two others, according to the statement.
This follows another deadly crash in northern Badakhshan province on January 29, in which two people died and one was injured after a vehicle veered off a mountainous road and plunged into a ravine.
In December last year, at least five people were killed and 44 others injured after a bus overturned in the Salang area of Afghanistan's Baghlan province, according to the official statement.
In a statement shared on X, Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Works (MoPW) spokesperson Mohammad Ashraf Haqshenas stated that the incident happened in the Shawal area, north of Salang, on December 20 at around 2 am (local time), local media outlet Pajhwok Afghan News reported.
Haqshenas said that a passenger bus veered off the road and overturned due to reckless driving, claiming the lives of five people and injuring 44 others. He added that the injured were taken to the Khanjan district health centre for treatment.
The ministry asked people travelling on the route to follow the instructions given by officials and observe traffic rules. Authorities said that personnel were carrying out snow-clearing operations at several points on the Salang highway.
--IANS
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