Bus crash kills 13 and injures over a dozen on highway in central Iran

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A passenger bus overturned, killing 13 people and injuring over a dozen others on a highway in central Iran, state-run IRNA news agency reported.

The bus was traveling late Monday from Isfahan to the northeastern city of Mashhad when it struck the highway’s central guardrail, crossed into the opposite lane and collided with a taxi before flipping over, police said.

Eleven bus passengers and two people who were in the taxi were killed in the crash, while six women and seven men were hospitalized, IRNA said.

Emergency teams, including ambulances and rescue units, were dispatched to the site shortly after the crash.

Iran has one of the world’s worst traffic safety records, with some 20,000 deaths annually.

The grave toll is attributed to widespread disregard for traffic laws, unsafe vehicles and inadequate emergency services in its vast rural areas.