Iraqi police announced Saturday that 11 individuals, including nine schoolteachers, were killed in a head-on accident south of Baghdad as they returned from a Ramadan feast. The authorities cited over speeding the main cause of accident.

A police source said the accident occurred around midnight in Babylon province when the party returned from the Shiite holy site of Karbala.

Due to excessive speed and the second driver’s inattention, their car crashed with a 4×4 in the other way, injuring two persons.

The police source said the cars burned.

Conflict, mismanagement, and corruption have ravaged Iraq’s oil-rich infrastructure, including highways and bridges.

Many roads are full with potholes and unlit at night.

“Traffic accidents continue to rise. It’s like war, “Tarek Ismail, a top traffic officer, said the INA late last month.

He cited “lack of regard for speed limits,” cell phone use, and drugged and drunk driving.

According to a traffic official, about 1,000 people perished in vehicle accidents in Iraq last year.