KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan official says at least 36 passengers including women and children have been killed when their bus collided with a fuel tanker in southern Zabul province.

Gul Islam Seyal, spokesman for the provincial governor in Zabul, said Sunday that more than 25 others are seriously wounded with some in critical conditions.

The collision took place in Shar-e Safa district, on the main highway linking the capital, Kabul, to the southern city of Kandahar.

Seyal blamed both drivers for being reckless.

He says authorities will transfer critical patients to neighboring Kandahar province.

In May, 52 people were killed on the same highway in Ghazni province in a collision involving two buses and a fuel tanker.