A road accident in southwestern Iran killed at least 10 people on Saturday, Iranian media reported.

The official IRNA news agency said the accident happened as a truck hit a minibus that was carrying laborers on the road linking the city of Khorramshahr with the city of Ahvaz in Khuzestan province.

The fatalities include the truck driver and nine workers from the minibus. Three other cars rear-ended the bus and each other. Thirteen injured were taken to local hospitals.

Roads in Iran regularly see such chain-reaction accidents and pileups. Fourteen people, including eight children, were killed in a road accident in March.

Iran has one of the world’s worst traffic safety records, with some 17,000 deaths annually. The grave toll is blamed on wide disregard for traffic laws, unsafe vehicles and inadequate emergency services.

AP