Five injured in 8-car crash in Sulaimani

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – At least five people have been injured in a colossal crash that involved eight vehicles and a loaded dump truck in the Kurdistan Region’s Sulaimani province, according to medics and traffic police.

Loading gravel and dirt, the truck was presumably losing its brakes and rammed into at least eight other vehicles on one of Sulaimani’s major roads, known as 60-Meter Street, CCTV cameras and eyewitnesses recalled on Monday. 

At least five people, mostly drivers of the crashed vehicles, have been rushed to the hospital, Saman Nadir, the head of the city’s emergency hospital, told Kurdistan 24 on Monday. One of the victims, a taxi driver, is in critical condition, Nadir added.

The truck’s driver has been detained by the security forces, who cordoned off the area in which a number of the trees on the street island were damaged, Kurdistan 24 has learned.

Kurdistan Region has witnessed a number of deadly traffic accidents since last year.

In a single-car accident in March this year, at least five people were killed in Erbil.  Eight members of a family died in a similar car accident in Duhok province last October.

Mobile phone usage and excessive speeding are two leading causes of fatal accidents, as well as not adhering to driving safety measures, such as wearing seatbelts. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the use of seatbelts reduces death rates by 45% and serious injury by 50%.

As part of efforts to strengthen road safety measures, Kurdistan Region traffic authorities have begun rolling out point-to-point speed cameras across the provinces’ main roads.