At least 52 people were killed and 65 injured when a fuel tanker and two buses collided on a highway through central Afghanistan, a Taliban government spokesman said on Thursday.
The accidents happened in Ghazni province late Wednesday night on a single highway between the capital Kabul and the southern city of Kandahar, Hameedullah Nisar, the provincial head of information and culture, said without specifying how many people were killed or injured in each accident.
Chief government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said, “We learned with great regret that two fatal traffic accidents took place on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, in which 52 of our compatriots were killed and 65 others injured.”
One bus collided with a fuel tanker near Shehbaz village in central Ghazni, while another collided with a truck in eastern Andar district, Nisar said.
He added that rescue teams reached the spot and shifted the injured to hospital, some of whom are in critical condition.
Traffic accidents are common in Afghanistan, due to poor roads, dangerous driving on highways, and a lack of regulation after decades of conflict.
In March, more than 20 people were killed and 38 injured when a bus collided with a fuel tanker and burst into flames in southern Helmand province.
Another serious accident involving a fuel tanker occurred in December 2022, when the vehicle overturned and caught fire in Afghanistan’s Saling Pass, killing 31 people and injuring dozens.