At least 16 people, including eight women and children, have been killed in a collision between a bus and a truck in southern Yemen, according to local authorities.

The accident occurred in the Lahmar area of the Al-Mahfad district, on a key transit route linking the provinces of Abyan and Shabwa, authorities said on Tuesday.

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The impact of the two vehicles led to a catastrophic fire that engulfed the small bus, leaving no survivors among the passengers, Turkiye’s Anadolu news agency reported.

The Reuters news agency, citing a statement issued by security officials, said the accident was the result of “improper overtaking” on a dangerous bend in the road, while the bus’s use of gas as a fuel “caused an immediate fire that resulted in everyone inside being burned”.

Tuesday’s crash was the second-deadliest traffic accident in Yemen in recent years, and the worst so far in 2026.

Last year, 17 people were killed in a horrific crash on a dangerous mountain road in the Abyan province.

Local observers have pointed to several contributing factors for the high death toll in road accidents, including Yemen’s rugged terrain that creates naturally hazardous conditions, as well as neglected road infrastructure. More than a decade of ongoing conflict between government forces and Houthi rebels has left Yemen’s road networks in a state of severe disrepair.

Yemen has been rocked by violence and instability since 2014, when the Houthis captured much of the country, including the capital, Sanaa.