Afghan bus crash kills at least 24

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 on Friday, in the latest deadly road accident.

Women and children were among those killed in the accident Friday 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 a hospital while the 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 Badghis. And in April 2013, a bus hit a wrecked fuel tanker in Kandahar, killing 45 people.