Afghan road crash inferno leaves 35 dead

KANDHAR: At least 35 people were killed on Sunday when a passenger bus collided with a fuel tanker and burst into flames in southern Afghanistan, in the latest road

KANDHAR: At least 35 people were killed on Sunday when a passenger bus collided with a fuel tanker and burst into flames in southern Afghanistan, in the latest road accident in the war-torn country.

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Many of the victims, including women and children, were burned beyond recognition in the accident in Zabul province, one of the areas worst affected by the Taliban insurgency.

“The passenger bus was on its way from Kandahar to Kabul when it collided with a fuel tanker in Jildak area of Zabul,” provincial governor Bismillah Afghanmal told AFP. “In the accident, 35 people were killed and more than 20 others were wounded.”

Some of the injured were rushed to hospitals in provincial capital Qalat as well as neighbouring Kandahar province, said Ghulam Jilani Farahi, deputy Zabul police chief.

The Kabul-Kandahar highway passes through militancy-prone areas and many bus drivers are known to drive recklessly at top speeds so as not to get caught in insurgent activity. Afghanistan has some of the world’s most dangerous roads, often in dilapidated condition and traffic rules are seldom enforced. Many in the country rely on old and rickety passenger vehicles, meaning that high casualty road traffic accidents are common. The World Bank had signed off a $250 million grant to upgrade roads crossing Hindu Kush mountains.