At least 36 dead in bus-tanker collision in Afghanistan

An Afghan official says at least 36 passengers, including women and children, were killed when their bus collided with a fuel tanker in southern Zabul province.

An Afghan official says at least 36 passengers, including women and children, were killed when their bus collided with a fuel tanker in southern Zabul province on Sunday.

A bus collided with a fuel tanker in southern Zabul province in Afghanistan on Sunday. (Representative Photo/Shutterstock)

Gul Islam Seyal, spokesman for the provincial governor in Zabul, said on Sunday that more than 25 others were seriously wounded, with some in critical conditions.

The collision took place in Shar-e Safa district, on the main highway linking the capital, Kabul, to the southern city of Kandahar.

Seyal blamed both drivers for being reckless.

He says authorities will be transferring critical patients to neighbouring Kandahar province.

In May, 52 people were killed on the same highway in Ghazni province in a collision involving two buses and a fuel tanker.