Collision Kills Ten In Iran, With One Of Highest Road Fatality Rates

Ten people have died and more than a dozen injured Saturday in a multiple vehicle collision in Iran, which has one of the highets road fatalities in the world.

The deadly accident happened on Ahvaz-Khorramshahr highway in the southwest, when a truck crashed into a minibus and knocked it off its course, making it impossible for three cars to avoid hitting it.
According to the traffic police chief in Khizestan province, Reza Dolatshahi, the nine passengers of the bus, which was carrying workers of a local oil firm, and the driver of the truck, which was loaded with livestock, were the fatalities of the accident while two of the injured are in critical condition.
He added that about 440 people had lost their lives in road accidents in the province in first eight months of this year.
According to official figures, traffic accidents have claimed the lives of 8,644 Iranians from March to September, an increase of about 10 percent compared to the same period last year.
An earlier report by Iran’s traffic police said that nearly 280,000 have been killed and more than four million injured in car accidents in over a decade in the country. Iran ranks 8th highest country in road fatalities.
Substandrad vehicles and poor road condition are tha main reason for the high numbers.