20 Killed and 10 Injured in Fatal Accident on Qom-Tehran Road

The head of the Qom police announced that in an accident involving a fruit truck, a minibus, and a Paykan car on the old Qom-Tehran road, 18 Afghan nationals and two Iranians were killed, and 10 Iranians were injured. This incident occurred around 7 PM on Sunday, October 26. According to the state news agency IRNA, Ardshir Jamshidi stated that the cause of the accident was the truck driver's 'left turn.' The drivers of both the truck and the minibus were also killed in the incident. According to Fars News Agency, Mustafa Mortezavi, a spokesperson for the Red Crescent rescue organization, mentioned that the minibus was carrying 'illegal' Afghan nationals. Mohammad Hossein Hamidi, the head of the national road police, reported that after the collision between the truck and the minibus, a Paykan car traveling behind the minibus was also involved in the accident, and its occupants were 'severely' injured. Tasnim News Agency reported that the old Qom-Tehran road was closed due to this accident, and rescue teams were conducting rescue operations and 'securing the route.' The Qom emergency medical center announced that 10 ambulances transported the injured to medical facilities in Qom. Every year, a large number of Iranian citizens and some foreign nationals are killed and injured in traffic accidents in Iran. In June, a bus carrying Iraqi tourists fell into a ravine on the Chalus road in the Siyah Bishe area, resulting in 25 deaths and 15 injuries. The Iranian Legal Medicine Organization reported in October that the number of traffic accident victims in the last 14 years in Iran was 315,000. According to this organization, approximately 7,300 people lost their lives in traffic accidents in the first five months of the current year, which is a decrease of 2.7% compared to the same period last year.