Azerbaijan, Baku, September 13 /Trend, N. Umid/
Iranian media have blamed cheap Chinese tires for a deadly bus crash as a result of which at least 45 passengers were killed, Iranian Jamejam newspaper reported.
On Monday, a bus carrying more than 80 passengers skidded off its lane and collided with an oncoming bus in Iran.
The collusion led to a massive explosion and the victims were perished in the ensuing fireball. More than 40 passengers have been seriously injured, with several of them being critical conditions.
The newspaper reported that, from four inter-city passenger buses, three buses have failed passing brake tests, adding that the buses are transporting passengers with fake technical licenses which have been bought.
The experts haven't announced the exact cause of the accident yet, but almost all experts believe that burst of the front tire of the bus was initiator of the accident.
The newspaper also said several of Iran's Association of Passenger Transport Companies officials pointed to the lack of monitoring on imports of unreliable and cheap Chinese tires and called for the removal of these tires from Iran's market.
The newspaper further wrote that people are interested in Chinese tires because they are 60 percent cheaper than other reputable brands, while they have as short life-time as 6 months and busting rate in these tires is very high.
On the other hand, Iran has called on the heavy vehicles manufacturer Scania, whose buses were involved in the accident, to send a representative to the country, Iranian Press TV reported previously.
Iranian Roads and Urban Development Minister Abbas Akhoundi said that the Swedish commercial auto-maker's representative is to travel to Iran to study the possible technical faults related to the crash and present a report on Scania buses.
On Tuesday, President Hassan Rouhani expressed sympathy with the families of the victims and tasked Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli and the minister of roads and urban development with thoroughly investigating the incident in view of taking the necessary measures to avoid such deadly incidents in the future.