24 people were killed in a bus crash in northern Afghanistan.
Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan:
At least 24 people were killed when a passenger bus plunged into a ravine after a head-on collision with a truck in northern Afghanistan, officials said today, in the latest deadly road accident.
Women and children were among those killed in the accident Thursday on a major highway in Samangan province.
"The crash happened when the bus carrying more than 50 passengers was travelling from Kabul to Mazar-i-Sharif," said Sarajuddin Fitrat, the governor of Hazrat Sultan district where the accident occurred.
"Twenty four people were killed and 17 others were injured."
The defence ministry in Kabul gave a much higher death toll of 43.
The injured were rushed to hospital while police and a rescue team retrieved the bodies.
Afghanistan has some of the world's most dangerous roads and deadly accidents are common.
At least 18 people were killed in May when a minivan overturned in the western province of Badghis.
And in April 2013 a bus hit a wrecked fuel tanker in the southern province of Kandahar, killing 45 people.
The World Bank in November signed off a $250 million grant to upgrade roads crossing Afghanistan's Hindu Kush mountains, crucial trade links that are often closed in winter by snow.
Women and children were among those killed in the accident Thursday on a major highway in Samangan province.
"The crash happened when the bus carrying more than 50 passengers was travelling from Kabul to Mazar-i-Sharif," said Sarajuddin Fitrat, the governor of Hazrat Sultan district where the accident occurred.
"Twenty four people were killed and 17 others were injured."
The defence ministry in Kabul gave a much higher death toll of 43.
The injured were rushed to hospital while police and a rescue team retrieved the bodies.
Afghanistan has some of the world's most dangerous roads and deadly accidents are common.
At least 18 people were killed in May when a minivan overturned in the western province of Badghis.
And in April 2013 a bus hit a wrecked fuel tanker in the southern province of Kandahar, killing 45 people.
The World Bank in November signed off a $250 million grant to upgrade roads crossing Afghanistan's Hindu Kush mountains, crucial trade links that are often closed in winter by snow.
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