One killed, 10 injured as mini-bus strikes motorists in Eastern Afghanistan

Kabul, March 29 (IANS) One commuter was killed and 10 others sustained injuries as a mini-bus struck two motorists in east Afghanistan's Laghman province, said a statement of the provincial police office on Sunday.

A mini-bus, according to the statement, struck a three-wheel rickshaw and a motorbike simultaneously due to carelessness in the provincial capital Mehtarlam on Saturday afternoon, killing one on the spot and injuring 10 others, including five children and two women, Xinhua News Agency reported.

All the injured commuters have been shifted to the hospital for medical treatment, the statement said, calling on drivers to respect traffic rules and regulations while driving to avoid road accidents.

On March 1, 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 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.

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.