Six killed as vehicle falls into ravine in south Afghanistan

Kabul: A vehicle carrying a family fell into a ravine in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, claiming the lives of six, the Xinhua news agency reported citing information received by the provincial department of information and culture.

The accident took place in the province’s Babaji district after the vehicle lost control and fell into a steep and deep ravine, killing six people, including women and children, on the spot, said the source.

Six commuters lost their lives and four others sustained injuries as a jeep plunged into a river in northern Badakhshan province last week.

Poor conditions on roads, reckless driving and lack of security measures are among causes of deadly road accidents in the war-ravaged country.

Earlier this month, in an accident that took place in northern Jawzjan province on a highway linking the province with neighbouring Sari Pul province, one person was killed on the spot and 10 others were injured.

In another accident, a car veered off the road and overturned in Shahr-e-Safa district of southern Zabul province along a highway linking Kandahar with the national capital Kabul, killing two and injuring two others.

The officials had blamed reckless driving for the mishaps, asserting that drivers’ carelessness on congested roads often claimed commuters’ lives.

On November 25, at least six people were killed after a passenger vehicle fell into the Kokcha River in the Badakhshan province.

The mishap took place when the vehicle was heading toward Faizabad city, the capital of the province.

On November 23, five commuters had lost their lives and nine others sustained injuries in two separate traffic accidents in north Afghanistan’s Faryab province.

The first accident took place on a highway linking Jawzjan with neighbouring Faryab province as a car veered off the road, leaving three dead on the spot, and seven injured. Minutes later, a vehicle overturned due to reckless driving in Pashtun Kot district of the province, killing two people, including a woman and a child, and injuring two others.

A week before that, eight commuters, including women and children, lost their lives when their vehicle plunged into the same river in the same vicinity.

–IANS