Traffic accident in Kurdistan’s Duhok leaves one dead, 5 injured

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – One person was killed, and five others injured in a traffic accident on Monday northeast of the Kurdistan Region’s Duhok province.

Sources in the area told Kurdistan 24 that two vehicles, one SUV and one Sedan, collided on a road in the Balava village, located in the Dereluk region in the outskirts of Amedi.

The accident left one person dead and five others wounded, the source added.

Elsewhere, on Monday, a separate collision on the Kirkuk – Sulaimani road involving four cars left three people injured.

Assad Karim, a spokesperson for the Erbil General Traffic Directorate, told Kurdistan 24 in June 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.

(Additional reporting by Shimal Barchi)