13 killed in traffic accident south of Baghdad

Baghdad, April 17 (IANS) Up to 13 people, including nine school teachers, were killed and four others wounded in a car crash south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Iraqi authorities and a source have said.Iraqi Interior Ministry's Traffic Directorate said on Saturday in a statement that a 4-wheel drive vehicle and a minibus collided as a result of inattentive driving and speeding in the north of Babil's province capital Hilla, nearly 110-km south of Baghdad.An earlier statement by the Directorate said the accident took place around Saturday midnight, Xinhua news agency reported.A local security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that nine schools teachers were among the dead while they were returning in a minibus from Karbala to Baghdad.Traffic accidents in Iraq are a major cause of death and injury in the country either due to poor condition of the roads or due to drivers' violation of traffic regulations.
--IANS int/khz/

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