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At least 22 members of a wedding party were killed when the
vehicle they were traveling in crashed into a truck in India's
southern state of Andhra Pradesh on Monday, police said.
Another 26 people were injured in the accident in Adilabad
district, located some 250 km north of state capital Hyderabad.
"Twenty-two people were killed when the van carrying 49
passengers headed to a wedding function, collided head-on with a speeding
truck," said police official Ashok Kumar.
"While 15 people were killed on the scene, seven others
succumbed to their injuries at the hospital," Kumar added.
Six of the injured were in a critical condition.
Government data shows that more than 110,000 people
are killed in traffic accidents in India annually, the highest rate in
the world. Road accidents are common India due to reckless driving,
untrained drivers and poor maintenance of roads and vehicles. According to the New Delhi based Institute
of Road Traffic Education, India accounts
for 13 percent of road accident fatalities worldwide.
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