9 killed, 20 injured in 3 road accidents in Iran in 2 days

road accidents

TEHRAN, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and 13 others injured in a multi-vehicle pileup on an intercity road in the southeastern Iranian province of Kerman on Saturday, the IRIB news agency reported.

The accident in the morning was caused by a collision of two semi-trailer trucks and five sedans on the road from Kerman city to Sirjan city, IRIB quoted Mojtaba Khaledi, a spokesman for the country's emergency services, as saying.

He cited the icy conditions of the road as the cause of the accident, saying four of the wounded are in critical condition.

Also on Saturday morning, a collision of three vehicles on a road in the northeastern province of Khorasan Razavi killed three people and injured four others, IRIB quoted Mohsen Zakerian, the head of the province's Red Crescent Society, as saying.

The three cars caught fire and burned entirely after the collision, he added.

On Friday night, four people were killed and three others injured in a road accident involving a bus and a minibus in the northwestern province of Kurdistan, IRIB cited Payam Jalali, the provincial Red Crescent Society head, as saying.

Official figures show more than 20,000 people are killed and 200,000 others wounded in traffic accidents annually in Iran. Lack of driving experience and poor maintenance of roads are reportedly the top causes.