At least 22 people have reportedly died and 24 others injured in a bus accident in Iran, according to an Iranian newspaper.
The bus was reportedly heading to Gonbad from the capital Tehran when the accident took place, according to the Entekhab newspaper.
Gonbad is about 500km (310 miles) northeast of Tehran, near the border with Turkmenistan.
An image posted on social media showed the bus lying on its side, with shattered windows, by the side of the road.ILNA news agency also quoted authorities from Mazandaran Province as saying that mechanical failure was the cause of the deadly incident.
A video of the aftermath of the crash showed emergency personnel struggling to extract survivors from the mangled bus, while medics tried to load an injured victim into an ambulance.
UNICEF said Iran's rate of traffic accidents is 20 times the world's average, as the country suffers from poor roads and lax law enforcement.
At least two fatalities were also seen placed in a bodybag.
According to a May 2017 report by the Tehran-based newspaper Financial Tribune, more than 20,000 people are killed and 800,000 injured annually in road accidents in Iran.
The Tehran-based Shargh Daily newspaper quoted authorities as saying that the accident was caused by a defect in the vehicle's brake system.
According to IRNA newsagency- At least 22 people were killed and 24 others injured as a passenger bus plunged into a ravine in north of Iran on Thursday, official IRNA news agency reported.The accident happened on Firouz Kooh mountaineer road in Mazandaran province on early Thursday.
The injured were taken to the emergency medical services by the rescue operators, but some of them are in critical condition, according to the report.Technical failure of the bus was the cause of accident, IRNA said.
Official figures show more than 20,000 people die and two million others are wounded in traffic accidents per year in Iran. Inexperienced drivers, inefficient cars and risky roads are blamed for causing the casualties.
