Horrific traffic accident in Sulaimani leaves 3 teenagers dead, 1 critically injured

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A horrific traffic accident in the Kurdistan Region on Saturday left three teenagers dead and another in critical condition.

The incident occurred on the Darbandikhan – Warmawa road in the Kurdistan Region’s Sulaimani province.

The accident involved a BMW sedan. The cause of the accident is unknown.

Locals in the area rushed to the scene to help extract the bodies of the driver and passengers while ambulances arrived.

Three people were pronounced dead on the scene while another was taken to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries, the Darbandikhan administration said. All four were teenagers. Their identities have not been revealed.

Elsewhere on Saturday, one person was killed, and three others injured when a tractor collided with a Nissan Altima cab in the Chwarqurna region, east of the Kurdistan Region capital Erbil.

Assad Karim, a spokesperson for the Erbil General Traffic Directorate, told Kurdistan 24 last year that the number of car accidents is growing at an alarming rate each year in the Kurdistan Region.

Related Article: Number of car accidents claiming lives in Kurdistan ‘rising’ in 2019: Official

According to 2018 data, in the autonomous region’s capital of Erbil alone, 1,384 traffic accidents occurred, resulting in the death of 262 people and injury of 1,401 more.

Karim said a major cause for traffic violations and accidents is the lack of awareness among drivers, especially the disregard of traffics rules and laws.

However, poor road quality, as well as inadequate traffic laws, have also been blamed.

As part of its agenda, the new Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) cabinet plans to renovate and construct two-lane roads linking provinces and large cities in the Kurdistan Region with construction already underway in some places.