At least 16 people have died and more than 20 have been injured in a series of road traffic collisions across Brazil, Argentina, and India, according to local officials and emergency services. The incidents, which occurred over the past week, ranged from a gas‑tanker explosion to multiple head‑on crashes.

In Brazil, a head‑on crash on the BR‑463 highway in Mato Grosso do Sul state killed three people on Saturday morning; the victims have not yet been identified, the federal highway police said. In the southern state of Santa Catarina, three members of a family died when their car collided with a truck on the SC‑418 road on Friday, authorities reported. In Sergipe state, a mother and her three‑year‑old daughter were killed on Saturday after a truck overturned on the BR‑101 highway and struck them on the shoulder, according to the federal highway police. And in Canindé, in the north‑eastern state of Ceará, two women died when a bus carrying more than 40 religious pilgrims overturned on Saturday morning, leaving dozens injured, some with amputated limbs, the state fire department said. Across the border in Argentina, a 51‑year‑old woman died in a head‑on collision between a pick‑up truck and a lorry in the town of Abasto, near La Plata. The driver of the pick‑up was trapped and had to be freed by firefighters, while a 14‑year‑old passenger suffered leg injuries; the lorry driver was unharmed, local judicial sources reported. Prosecutors in Buenos Aires province have opened a culpable homicide investigation.

Separately, in Kaushambi district of Uttar Pradesh, India, five people were killed and seven injured on June 26 when a lorry carrying liquefied petroleum gas lost control, crashed into a toll plaza, and exploded seconds later, setting vehicles alight. Local officials said the driver died trapped in the cab, and the blast damaged at least 16 motorcycles and two cars.

In each case, police and traffic agencies say the exact causes remain under investigation, and they cautioned drivers to exercise care on busy roads. Provisional death tolls may still be updated.