TWO PASSENGER BUSES CRASH IN AFGHANISTAN, KILLING DOZENS

Two bus crashes in central Afghanistan have killed at least 50 people and injured dozens more, according to officials.

The accidents took place on the same highway in Ghazni province between the capital, Kabul, and southern Kandahar city late on Wednesday, provincial head of information and culture Hamidullah Nisar said on X on Thursday.

In the first, a passenger bus collided with a fuel tanker near Shahbaz village in central Ghazni. In the other accident, a bus hit a truck in the eastern district of Andar, Nisar said.

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Hafiz Omar, a spokesman for the governor of Ghazni province, said 50 people were killed in the accidents.

Taliban chief government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid put the death toll at 52 and said 65 people were injured. Other officials said up to 76 people were injured.

“We learned with great regret that two fatal traffic accidents occurred on the Kabul-Kandahar Highway,” Mujahid said in a statement.

“These incidents have deeply disturbed and saddened us … We urge the relevant authorities to conduct an immediate investigation into both incidents, identify the causes, and take necessary actions to prevent such tragedies in the future,” he added.

Omar said: “The injured have been taken to hospitals in Ghazni and authorities are in the process of handing over the bodies to families.”

Patients in a more serious condition were transferred to Kabul, he added; women and children are among the casualties.

Traffic accidents are common in Afghanistan, due in part to poor roads after decades of conflict, dangerous driving on highways, and a lack of regulation.

In March, more than 20 people were killed and 38 injured when a bus collided with a fuel tanker and burst into flames in southern Helmand province.

Another serious accident involving a fuel tanker took place in December 2022, when the vehicle overturned and caught fire in Afghanistan’s high-altitude Salang Pass, killing 31 people and leaving dozens more with burns.