MOUNTAINEERING-IRAN – TELAM Agency
At least ten people died when the bus that was transporting them overturned in a mountainous area in northwest Iran, a local official media reported today.
The accident occurred on Friday near the city of Varzaghan, in the eastern Azerbaijan province, the spokesman for the provincial emergency service, Vahid Shadinia, told the Irna agency.
Apparently, the minibus in which a group of climbers was traveling, and which was heading to a tourist town in this mountainous region, overturned for a still undetermined cause and fell down the slope, explained the person in charge.
As a result of the incident, some ten people died and another eight people were injured, of whom three were still hospitalized in intensive care this Saturday, the AFP news agency said, citing local sources.
Despite the good condition of its road network, Iran has one of the highest traffic fatality rates in the world.
Accidents are usually due to the age of the vehicles, due in part to international sanctions that prevent renewing the vehicle fleet, and poor adherence to traffic regulations.
“If the seat belts had been fastened, the death toll would have been lower,” lamented Shadinia, specifying that the driver was among the deceased.
Source: Ambito
