1st LD Writethru: Two dead, 27 injured in Afghan bus accident
Xinhua, February 10, 2016 Adjust font size:
Two people were killed and 27 others were wounded after a long-distance bus veered off a road along a mountainous highway in Afghanistan's eastern province of Parwan on Wednesday, an official said.
The accident took place in the morning after two buses crushed in Pul-e-Khaki area in Salang Pass, causing one bus falling into a ditch along the road, an official with the country's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
"The initial information showed that two persons died and 27 others were wounded," Omar Mohammadi, spokesman for the NDMA, told Xinhua.
Slippery roads and poor visibility due to the heavy snowing have been blamed for the accident, according to the investigation, he said, adding those killed included a child and a woman.
No passenger of the second bus involved in the accident was hurt.
The rescue team has provided medical assistance to victims at the site and the injured would be shifted to nearby hospitals, he added.
The accident occurred in southern side of the pass some 90 km north of Afghan capital of Kabul.
The Salang highway was closed to traffic at around midday Wednesday due to the heavy snowing, according to Mohammadi.
More than 8,000 vehicles travel daily through the pass which connects Kabul to the northern provinces. Enditem