Bus plunges into valley in mountainous area of Iran, 25 Iraqi tourists dead

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's official IRNA news agency says at least 25 Iraqi tourists died after their bus careened into a river valley in a mountainous part of Iran.

The report quotes Mahdi Valipour, a local Red Crescent official, as saying 15 passengers were injured and that others may have been swept away by the river.

The accident happened late Tuesday on a road linking the northern city of Karaj to a tourism destination on the Caspian Sea.

Iran has one of the world's worst traffic safety records, with more than 400,000 accidents and nearly 18,000 deaths on its roads every year. The high death tolls are blamed on high speed, unsafe vehicles, widespread disregard of traffic laws and inadequate emergency services.