Two German tourists die in minibus overturning accident in Fars Province
Reports from Iran indicate that two tourists were killed and 18 others were injured when a minibus carrying German tourists overturned in Fars Province.
Ahmad Ahmadi, the head of Fars Provincial Police, told the Iranian Broadcasting Corporation that the minibus overturned due to "exceeding the safe speed limit on the slippery road of the Saadat Shahr axis towards Shiraz."
He added that two German tourists died instantly in the incident and 18 people were injured and taken to the hospital.
Mohammad Reza Aalimanesh, head of the Fars Province Emergency and Disaster Management Center, also told IRNA that "the incident occurred at 5:27 p.m. on the 25th kilometer of the Saadatshahr-Shiraz road."
He added that one of the foreign tourists injured in the incident was transferred to Shahid Rajaee Hospital in Shiraz by emergency helicopter due to the severity of his injuries.
Saadatshahr, the center of Pasargadae County, is located 20 kilometers from Persepolis and is one of the important tourist destinations in Fars Province.
In this context, Bahram Ghasemi, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, expressed his "condolences" to the survivors of the deaths of the two German tourists and added: "After the traffic accident that occurred due to slippery roads, necessary and immediate measures were taken to transfer the injured to hospitals in Shiraz and Marvdasht, and other medical and welfare services are also being provided to the injured by the relevant centers in the province."
Iran is one of the world's most accident-prone countries in terms of driving. According to a report published by the Central Insurance Research Institute of Iran, among 190 countries in the world, Iran has the highest road fatality rate after the African country of Sierra Leone.
As Iranian police officials have announced, the death rate on Iranian roads was high during Nowruz this year, with one person killed every 71 minutes.
Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi, Iran's Minister of Health and Medical Education, announced at a ceremony in March 2015 that 17,000 Iranians die in accidents annually, which he said was a "national disaster" and embarrassing in "global circles."
Source: Radio Farda
