Tourist mini bus falls from mountain, killing three Iraqis, injuring 18 in Kurdistan

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - In a car accident on Friday, a mini bus carrying two Iraqi families drove off a mountainous road, killing and injured 21 people, police reported.

The accident took place on Baranan Mountain, located on the Garmian – Sulaimani road.

“The mini bus was carrying two Arab families visiting from Diyala province,” Rezhan Burhan, Director of Traffic Police in Darbandikhan, told Kurdistan 24.

“Three died in the crash and 18 more were injured,” Burhan said, adding two are critically wounded.

The rocky mountainous road has become a temporary route for people traveling between Garmian and Sulaimani as the Darbandikhan tunnel is currently undergoing reconstruction and maintenance.

Photos and footage obtained by Kurdistan 24 show that some of the injured people are receiving medical treatment on the ground at a nearby hospital due to lack of beds in the health center.

The Kurdistan Region annually receives millions of tourists, most of whom are locals coming from the central and southern parts of Iraq.

Editing by Nadia Riva

(Additional reporting by Harem Jaff)