Bus overturning carrying Urmia girls' water polo team leaves two dead and 20 injured

The overturning of a bus carrying 14 members of the Urmia girls' water polo team resulted in two deaths and over 20 injuries. According to IRNA, this incident occurred on Friday, February 8, on the Delijan to Isfahan road, as the team was heading to Isfahan for the national championship. Iranian media reported that the two deceased individuals were male passengers unrelated to the water polo team, but their identities have not yet been disclosed. Sajjad Birami, the director general of sports and youth in West Azerbaijan, told IRNA early Saturday that 'several team members suffered fractures and injuries.' He did not provide further details about the injured athletes, only stating, 'The athlete who suffered a concussion is in stable condition.' However, according to Hadi Hosseini, head of the sports department in Delijan, two of the injured sustained neck vertebra fractures. Abolfazl Ghasemi, the Delijan governor, attributed the cause of the accident to 'the driver's violation of safe speed limits.' This incident occurred one day after six people were killed in a bus overturning involving schoolgirls in Kerman. The main reasons for traffic accidents in Iran are cited as the unsafe and substandard condition of vehicles and roads. These accidents result in numerous fatalities each year in Iran, and according to Abbas Majedi, head of the Legal Medicine Organization, over 20,000 people died in accidents last year.