At least 71 people, including 17 children, were killed late Tuesday in a devastating road accident in Afghanistan’s western Herat province, officials confirmed.
The crash occurred in Guzara district, just outside Herat city, when a passenger bus carrying Afghan migrants recently deported from Iran collided with a motorcycle and later a fuel truck. The impact sparked a massive fire that engulfed the bus and other vehicles.
According to police, the accident was caused by the bus’s “excessive speed and negligence.” Only three passengers survived. Two people travelling in the truck and two riding the motorcycle were also among the dead.
The bus was en route to Kabul with deported migrants, provincial governor’s spokesperson Mohammad Yousuf Saeedi said. In recent months, Iran has intensified efforts to push Afghan migrants out, triggering a surge in returns.
More than 1.6 million Afghans have returned from Iran and Pakistan this year alone, according to the UN migration agency.
An AFP journalist at the site reported that the burnt-out bus and wreckage of the motorcycle and truck remained scattered across the road hours after the crash.
Deadly traffic accidents are frequent in Afghanistan due to poorly maintained roads, reckless driving, and the absence of strict regulations. In December last year, two separate bus accidents involving heavy vehicles on a central highway claimed at least 52 lives.
