MAIDAN SHAR, Afghanistan — At least three people have been confirmed dead and three others were injured in a road accident in east Afghanistan’s Wardak province on Sunday morning, a local police official reported.

The mishap occurred on the outskirts of Maidan Shar City, the capital of the province, along the highway linking the capital Kabul with the southern Kandahar province, said Mohammad Yosuf Asrar, spokesman for provincial police.

According to Asrar, the injured are now under treatment in the provincial hospital of Wardak, but their conditions were reported as critical.

The victims of the road accident, including two women, are members of the same family.

Some 2,000 people lost their lives and about 6,000 others were injured in 4,270 road accidents in Afghanistan over the past 12 months.

Road accidents due to reckless driving on congested roads and lack of traffic signs on dilapidated highways are a leading cause of deaths in the war-ravaged country.

XINHUA