Tehran, November 15 (TNA) Twelve people were killed and 16 injured when a bus overturned in western Iran, state media said on Sunday. The IRNA news agency, citing a local official, said the bus was carrying employees of a gas refinery.
The accident took place late on Saturday on the road between Abdanan and Dehloran, near the Iraqi border, and is under investigation. Fars news agency reported that the bus overturned at about 7:25 p.m. local time in Ilam province, on the road from Dasht-e Abbas in Dehloran County to Murmuri in Abdanan County.
The toll climbed through the night. An earlier Fars report put the death toll at 10, with 18 others injured. A health official from Ilam University of Medical Sciences said ten ambulances and an ambulance bus were sent to the scene. The wounded were taken to hospitals in Ilam and neighbouring Khuzestan province, and some were in critical condition.
Authorities have warned that the death toll could rise because of the severity of some injuries. The cause will be announced by the relevant authorities.
Road accidents are a long-standing problem in Iran. Traffic accidents claimed nearly 20,000 lives in the 12 months to March, according to the official Iranian Legal Medicine Organization.