Bus crash in Afghanistan kills dozens of migrants deported from Iran

A devastating road accident in western Afghanistan has killed at least 79 people, including 17 children, most of them Afghan migrants recently deported from Iran, officials confirmed on Wednesday.

According to Taliban authorities, the tragedy occurred late Tuesday night in Herat province when a bus traveling to Kabul collided with a truck and a motorcycle before bursting into flames.

“Everyone aboard the bus was killed, as well as two people from the other vehicles,” Ahmadullah Mottaqi, the Taliban’s director of information and culture in Herat, told BBC Pashto.

Interior ministry officials said rescue efforts were hampered by the intensity of the fire, which left many of the victims badly burned.

The victims were among thousands of Afghan migrants forced to return home in recent months after Iran intensified its deportations of undocumented workers and families who had fled conflict and poverty.

For many, the bus trip was meant to be a journey back to their communities in Afghanistan.

Road accidents are common in the country, where poor infrastructure, reckless driving, and overloaded vehicles frequently contribute to deadly crashes. But officials described Tuesday’s collision as one of the deadliest in recent years.

Funerals were expected to begin in Herat province on Wednesday, as grieving families struggled to identify the remains of their loved ones.

The Taliban government has ordered an investigation into the crash and pledged assistance to victims’ families, though many Afghans expressed frustration on social media over what they see as inadequate transport safety measures.