Over 50 people were killed in a traffic accident along a highway in Afghanistan's northern province of Samangan on Thursday, police said.
"A long-distance bus collided with an oil truck on a bridge at around evening. The bus plunged into a 20-meter-deep ravine after the crash, leaving over 50 persons dead and one dozen others injured," a highway police source told Xinhua.
The casualties have been shifted to nearby hospitals, where most of the injured remained in critical conditions, said the source on condition of anonymity.
The bus was traveling from Mazar-i-Sharif city, capital of northern Balkh province, to Kabul, the national capital.
Earlier, Munir Rahimi, a provincial police officer, said "the initial reports showed 24 were killed and 21 others got wounded by the accident."
Afghan officials blame reckless driving as the main cause of road accidents in the country.
