13 Afghans die after bus hits land mine

A BUS carrying people home from a picnic hit a land mine in central Afghanistan, killing 13 passengers and injuring six others, a UN official said yesterday.

The accident occurred on Saturday near Bamiyan, about 120 miles west of the capital, Kabul, David Singh said.

The bus driver was urged by passengers to take a detour because of land mines on the main road, but ignored their pleas, Mr Singh said.

He said the remaining land mines were later cleared.

Of the six passengers wounded, one was seriously injured.

The bus was carrying 22 passengers. All of them were Afghans returning from a picnic near the eastern edge of Band-i-Amir lake, a picturesque resort area.

Afghanistan’s two decades of warfare left an estimated five million to 10 million land mines littering the country, most of them left by Soviets during their 10-year occupation of the country.

The International Committee for the Red Cross estimates about 3,000 Afghans are maimed each year by land mines.

According to UN estimates, 100,000 people have been injured or maimed over the past 23 years.

Despite months of intensive clearance efforts, land mines remain a deadly scourge for civilians and troops.