Afghanistan: 21 killed, 38 injured in crash involving passenger bus, fuel truck and bike

A horrific collision of a passenger bus with an oil tanker and a motorbike killed 21 people and injured 38 others on Sunday (Mar 17) in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province.

In a post on social media platform X, the provincial information department said: "On (March 17), 21 people were killed and 38 people were injured due to a collision between a tanker, a motorcycle and a passenger bus."

As per local reports, among the injured, 11 were seriously wounded and 27 had minor injuries.

The statement mentioned that the accident took place on the Herat-Kandahar highway in the Grishk district of Helmand province.

According to the news agency AFP, Helmand governor's spokesman Mohammad Qasim Riyaz said, the collision caused the vehicles to ignite.

The information department released images on social media of burnt, twisted metal scattered across the highway, as well as the tanker's crushed cabin.

According to officials, the clean-up crews were on site removing the debris.

Watch:Indian Navy makes 35 Somali pirates on board vessel MV Ruen surrender, rescues crew

As per the report, Helmand traffic management officials said that the passenger bus was travelling from Herat City to the capital, Kabul, when it first collided with a motorbike carrying two people, both were killed.

After the collision, the bus driver lost control and crashed into an oil tanker travelling in the opposite direction from the southern city of Kandahar to Herat, sparking a fire.

The accident killed three people on the tanker and 16 bus passengers.

In December 2022, another serious accident involving an oil tanker took place. The vehicle overturned and caught fire in Afghanistan's high-altitude Salang pass, killing 31 people and leaving dozens more with burn injuries.

(With inputs from agencies)