Eleven people, including nine teachers, were killed in a traffic accident south of Baghdad, according to what the Iraqi General Traffic Directorate announced, attributing the reason to speed.
The accident occurred on Friday night, Saturday, in the Tunis area of Babil Governorate.
A police source told AFP that the nine teachers were returning from the city of Karbala, where they had breakfast.
In a statement, the directorate stated that the accident occurred between the teachers’ minibus and a four-wheel drive vehicle, noting that “the reasons are high speed and lack of attention by the driver of the second vehicle.” The same source announced that two people were injured in the accident.
The source in the Babylon Police stated that the accident led to the burning of the two vehicles.
The directorate said in a statement published by the Iraqi News Agency.consciousThe accident occurred on the Babil-Baghdad road.
She pointed out that the “taxi” bus was a Hyundai Starex (van), which was carrying the teachers, and the car that hit it was a Toyota Land Cruiser (four-wheel drive).
Although it is rich in oil, Iraq suffers from aging infrastructure as a result of decades of conflicts, while successive governments have been accused of corruption and incompetence, according to AFP.
Potholes fill the roads, which are completely dark at night.
And the Iraqi News Agency quoted the Director of General Traffic, Major General Tariq Ismail, as saying last March, “The number of traffic accidents is constantly increasing, as if we are in a war, and there is a lack of commitment to the speed limits on the roads.” He also sometimes attributed the matter to the use of mobile phones and the abuse of drugs and alcohol.
And in 2021, about a thousand people died in traffic accidents in Iraq, which has a population of 41 million, according to the General Traffic Directorate.