On 3 September 2016, at least 38 people were killed and 28 were injured after a fuel tanker carrying two people collided with a passenger bus carrying over 60 people on the dangerous
Kabul-Kandahar highway in the province of
Zabul
Zabul (Pashto/Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the south of the country. It has a population of 249,000. Zabul became an independent province from neighbouring Kandahar in 1963. Historically, it was part of the Zabu ...
,
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
. The accident comes after an
even larger incident that occurred on the same highway in May.
Details
A bus carrying over 60 people, including many women and children, was hit by a fuel tanker carrying a driver and a passenger causing a large explosion during the early morning. The truck burst into flames, killing both of its occupants instantly. People in the bus were also burnt to death, resulting in only six people that could be identified by authorities.
Drivers are also known to speed on the highway so as not to get caught in insurgent activity, especially from the
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
. The aim is to avoid the checkpoints that the Taliban have set up, since they sometimes kidnap and kill civilians, such as what happened during the
Kunduz-Takhar highway hostage crisis
On May 31, 2016, Taliban insurgents posing as government officials kidnapped around 220 civilians at a fake checkpoint along the Kunduz-Takhar highway near Arzaq Angor Bagh in Kunduz province, Afghanistan, on the outskirts of the city of Kundu ...
where hundreds were kidnapped and many killed after they were captured at a Taliban checkpoint. Many passenger buses are also old and unsafe, and Afghanistan has some of the most dangerous roads in the world.
See also
*
List of traffic collisions (2010–present)
The following is a list of articles that contain a lists of traffic collisions, or list of people who died in traffic collisions.
Lists of traffic collisions
*List of traffic collisions (before 2000)
*List of traffic collisions (2000–present)
* ...
*
May 2016 Afghanistan road crash
On May 8, 2016, two buses and a fuel tanker collided on a major highway, killing at least 73 people in the Muqur district, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan on the Kabul-Kandahar highway. More than 50 other people injured in the accident were taken t ...
References
{{Reflist
2016 in Afghanistan
2016 road incidents
Road incidents in Afghanistan
September 2016 events in Afghanistan
Zabul Province