Local officials reported on Saturday that at least 12 people were killed and three others seriously injured when a minibus overturned and plunged into a valley in northeastern Afghanistan.
The bus was traveling along a road in Badakhshan province toward the provincial capital, Faizabad, but “due to severe road damage, it veered off course and fell into a valley,” a provincial police spokesperson said, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
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“The victims of this incident include men, women, and children… and the injured are in severe condition,” the spokesperson said.
Deadly traffic crashes are common in Afghanistan, due in part to poor roads after decades of conflict, dangerous driving and a lack of regulation.
A bus carrying migrants returning from Iran crashed in western Herat province in August last year, killing 78 people, including more than a dozen children.
The bus collided with a motorcycle and a truck, according to authorities, making it one of the deadliest crashes in years.
Another 25 people were killed in late August when a bus overturned on a highway near the capital, Kabul, “due to the driver’s negligence,” officials said.
