Two buses collide in Afghanistan, leaving dozens dead and dozens injured

An Afghan government spokesman announced on Thursday that two collisions on a highway in southeastern Afghanistan killed 50 people and injured 76 others.

Hafez Omar, spokesman for the governor of Ghazni province, said one of them was a collision between a bus and an oil truck on the Kabul-Kandahar highway late on Wednesday.

As for the other attack, it occurred late on Wednesday also in the same province, and was in a different area on the same highway that connects the Afghan capital to the south.

Hamidullah Nazar, head of the Taliban-run Provincial Information and Culture Department, told Reuters news agency that the other incident involved a cargo truck, adding that some of those injured in both incidents were in critical condition.

Omar said that many of the wounded were transferred to Ghazni hospitals, and patients in serious condition were transferred to Kabul. He added that women and children were among the victims.

Omar said that the authorities are in the process of handing over the bodies to their families.

Abdullah Khan, the survivor of the accident, who was receiving treatment in Ghazni Hospital, said he did not know the number of dead or injured.

“I got off the bus myself and heard the groaning. There was blood everywhere. Some people were injured in the head while others were injured in their legs.”

Traffic accidents are common in Afghanistan, mainly due to poor road conditions and driver negligence.