12 workers injured in bus accident in Akre

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – At least 12 farm workers in the Kurdistan Region’s Akre district suffered injuries sustained from a single-vehicle accident in Duhok Province on Saturday. 

The workers were returning back from a potato field, where they pick the produce during the harvesting season in the Bardarash sub-district, one of the passengers told Kurdistan 24 at the site.

The 24-passenger bus veered off from the road to avoid colliding with another vehicle near the site, the passenger added.

Kurdistan 24 has learned those with sustained injuries are in stable condition. No deaths have been reported.

It is the third major accident to take place in Duhok Province this month. In a car crash, at least 30 casualties, including death, were reported in mid-July. Four other people died near Duhok in an accident during the same period.

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.