A State television in Iran has reported on Tuesday, that about 19 persons lost their lives when a bus crashed into a fuel tanker in central Iran.
The accident, which happened on Monday, caused a fireball that overwhelmed both vehicles on the motorway between Kashan and Natanz.
Traffic police commander General, Mohammad-Hossein Hamidi said, ”Based on preliminary investigations, the tanker swerved to the side, hitting the bus and causing an explosion and fire which killed 19 of the passengers at the scene”.
President Hassan Rouhani said the authorities need to do more to avert road deaths as ”Such tragic, irreparable road accidents indicate that there are technical, managerial and supervisory shortcomings”.
Iran has one of the highest rates for road death in the world; Iranian health ministry officials have reported about 16,300 deaths in the year that ended in March and 336,000 others injured.
Some of the main causes have been identified as reckless driving, the poor quality road network, especially in the rural areas, and the huge number of locally produced vehicles with old-fashioned technology because of US-led embargoes.
