Kirkuk-Baghdad taxi drivers complain of the poor conditions of Kirkuk-Baghdad highway which they call (Death Road) due to frequent fatal accidents.
Most of the deadly car accidents occur around Duz Khurmatu district, located 70 kilometers south of Kirkuk and part of Salahaddin province. The streets are full of holes and bumpers.
KirkukNow has come to know that only in 2021, eight people died and 15 were injured in car accidents in this area.
"The roads around Duz Khurmatu are too bad, many holes especially when you get closer to Salam Beg and Hamrin Mount (south toward Baghdad)," Ahmed Faruq, a driver in Duz Khurmatu, said. "Most of the accidents are fatal."
"The roads around Duz Khurmatu are too bad, many holes especially when you get closer to Salam Beg and Hamrin Mount (south toward Baghdad)," Ahmed Faruq, a driver in Duz Khurmatu, said. "Most of the accidents are fatal."
The multi-ethnic district of Duz Khurmatu, one of the disputed territories between Erbil and Baghdad, is home to 180,000 Turkmens, Kurds and Arabs.
Kirkuk administration has renovated the nearby streets within its authority from Kirkuk to Daquq district in the south up to Duz Khurmatu, which is under Salahaddin province and have not been renovated.
Administratively Duz Khurmatu is under Salahaddin province but the office in charge of roads and bridge is under Kirkuk administration.
"The roads in our area are in bad condition because neither Kirkuk administration, nor Salahaddin want to renovate it," Hassan Zainalabidin, mayor of Duz Khurmatu said.
"I have asked that office to maintain the roads but they care only about Kirkuk administration road, I really don’t know why. Salahaddin administration unfortunately does not respond to us."
Last car accident on Duz Khurmatu-Baghdad highway on Feb. 16, 2021. Three cars crashed, four people were injured.
Lack of signs by track of police is another concern of the drivers.
Aram Adel, taxi driver of Kirkuk-Baghdad, said "the risk on this road is dangerous as terror. Despite the fact that the roads are terrible, some drivers travel too fast leading to unexpected accidents."
Drivers, local administration and all passengers insist that it's time for taking safety of people seriously into consideration by allocation of a budget to convert the death road to a safe one.
"The whole road is damaged so how many signs can we put? It is not one or two holes, if so then we need to put hundreds. Renovation and maintenance is the only solution," the mayor added.
"The whole road is damaged so how many signs can we put? It is not one or two holes, if so then we need to put hundreds. Renovation and maintenance is the only solution," the mayor added.
