Canadian soldier killed in crash near Kandahar

A Canadian soldier was killed and three others injured, one of them seriously, on Saturday in a traffic accident in southern Afghanistan, military officials said.

Master Cpl. Raymond Arndt, a reservist with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, died in the accident.

The Canadian soldiers were travelling in an armoured vehicle called a G-wagon on a road35 kilometres southeast of Kandahar when they collided head-on with a local truck, officials told CBC News.

Theywere delivering medicalsupplies to an outpostnear the Afghan-Pakistani border when the collision occurred.

Jared Gagnon, a reservist with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, is listed in very serious condition. He was to be flown to a military hospital in Germany.

The accident occurred as Canadian soldiers were coping with the deaths of four comrades in three attacks near Kandahar on Thursday, one of thedeadliest days for Canada so far in the military campaign in Afghanistan.

In total, 24 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan since April 2002.