Deadly bus collision kills 44 passengers, injures 39 in Iran

At least 44 people have been killed and 39 others wounded after two passenger buses collided head-on on a highway near Tehran and caught fire.

The accident occurred late Monday after a bus heading from the central city of Isfahan to Tehran suffered a punctured tire and crashed through the guardrail.

The bus then veered off to the opposite lane and rammed into an oncoming passenger bus.

Both buses burst into flames after the collision which occurred on the highway connecting Tehran to the city of Qom.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday expressed sympathy with the families of the victims and tasked Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli and Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Ahmad Akhoundi with thoroughly investigating the incident in view of taking the necessary measures to avoid such deadly crashes in the future.