GUZARA: An overcrowded bus carrying Afghans expelled from Iran crashed in western Afghanistan and at least 79 people were killed, authorities said on Wednesday.
The crash on the Herat-Kabul highway involved a motorcycle, a truck and a bus late on Tuesday, said Ahmdullah Muttaqi, head of the information department for Herat’s provincial government.
The bus was carrying Afghan refugees expelled from Iran, part of an exodus of hundreds of thousands of people, who were on their way from the border to Kabul.
Abdul Mateen Qaniee, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, said that the bus caught fire after the accident, which happened a 30-minute drive outside Herat. He said on Wednesday that the death toll was 79, with 17 children among the deceased.
Video footage from the scene showed bright flames engulfing the bus, with a fire truck trying to douse the flames. A charred metal skeleton remained of the bus afterwards, pictures showed.
Traffic accidents are common in Afghanistan, with poor infrastructure exacerbated by decades of war, and drivers not following the rules.
“We urge transportation authorities to provide accurate information about the accident as soon as possible and to share their findings regarding the responsible party,” said Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Afghan government.
Herat, a key border province of Afghanistan touching Iran and Turkmenistan, is currently hosting tens of thousands of deported migrants from Iran.
Bus collision in Afghanistan claims 79 lives
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Bus collision in Afghanistan claims 79 lives
- The bus was carrying Afghans recently returned from Iran and en route to the capital Kabul
- Bus first collided with the motorcycle then hit the truck, which was carrying fuel, police said, adding that the collision sparked a fire
EU regulator backs approval for Moderna’s combined COVID and flu vaccine
- Currently people need two separate shots to protect them against COVID-19 and influenza
- Moderna is banking on the COVID-flu combination shot
BRUSSELS: Europe’s medicines regulator recommended approval for Moderna’s COVID and flu combination vaccine on Friday, putting it on track to become the first single shot to protect people aged 50 and older against both illnesses.
Currently people need two separate shots to protect them against COVID-19 and influenza and the vaccines are updated regularly to match the viral strains in circulation.
Moderna is banking on the COVID-flu combination shot and also an mRNA-based flu shot to help it return to revenue growth as demand for COVID vaccines has collapsed in the years after the pandemic.
It hopes international markets will drive revenue growth this year, as anti-vaccine activist US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr has disrupted the domestic market.
MODERNA SHARES HAVE PLUNGED FROM 2021 HIGHS
Shares of the biotech, which were flat in US premarket hours on Friday, have declined by nearly 90 percent from 2021 highs.
Last year, Moderna withdrew its US application for its COVID-flu combination shot to wait for efficacy data from a late-stage trial of its influenza vaccine.
Earlier this month, the company said it was waiting for guidance from the Food and Drug Administration on refiling the application.
US regulators initially refused to review a separate mRNA-based flu vaccine from the company, then reversed course a week later after Moderna amended its application.
EMA’s recommendation on Friday was based on data from a study of 8,000 participants that showed those who received mCombriax generated more antibodies than those who received separate shots against the viruses.
The study compared mCombriax with a combination of Moderna’s COVID-19 shot Spikevax and traditional flu shots from GSK and Sanofi.
EMA also considered data from a study of a similar mRNA flu vaccine, in which mCombriax triggered an adequate immune response. The shot contains messenger RNA with instructions for making proteins found on some strains of the influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2.
EMA’s recommendation will be reviewed by the European Commission, which will give the final sign off for marketing in the European Union. It was not clear how long that decision would take.
