Abu Dhabi: Eighteen people were killed and six others injured in a horrific road accident in the Algerian province of Naama on Sunday, according to the civil protection services.
The accident occurred when a semi-trailer truck collided with a small-sized passenger bus, on National Road no. 6 in Al Mashriah District, killing 18 people on the spot and injuring six others, the civil protection services added.
The injured were taken to a local hospital to receive first aid, according to the statement.
The accident comes more than two months after a similar one, involving a passenger bus and a trailer truck on July 9, in eastern Algeria, killing 14 people and wounding 13 others.
Over the past months, Algeria has been witnessing horrific traffic accidents that left a large number of casualties.
Algeria’s civil protection services have recently reported 32 people were killed and 1,451 others were injured, after 1,167 traffic accidents occurred within a week, according to the Algerian News Agency.
A civil protection statement indicated that the heaviest toll recorded in Oran governorate, with three people killed at the scene, and 59 others injured in 54 traffic accidents.
A week earlier, a Civil Protection statement indicated that 43 people were killed and 1,612 others injured in road accidents within a week, pointing out that the largest toll was recorded in Algiers Governorate with four deaths and 101 injuries in 115 accidents.
Earlier, Algerian Transport Minister Issa Bakay stressed the need to reconsider the operation of long lines of land transport as one of the main reasons for the high rate of traffic accidents.
