Five dead, three injured in Afghanistan road accident

Kabul, Sep 4 (IANS) At least five commuters were killed and three others injured in a traffic accident in east Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province on Wednesday, said a spokesman for the provincial police department.

The mishap took place after two passenger vehicles and a rickshaw collided with a fuel tanker on the outskirts of the province’s Surkh Rod district, said Basir Zabuli, spokesperson for the provincial police.

The injured have been shifted to the provincial hospital of Nangarhar for treatment and all the deceased of the accident were members of the same family, it said, Xinhua news agency reported.

Road accidents due to reckless driving on congested roads and lack of traffic signs on dilapidated highways are a leading cause of deaths in the war-ravaged country.

Some 2,000 people lost their lives and about 6,000 others were injured following 4,270 road accidents in Afghanistan over the past 12 months.

–IANS

as/