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Egypt Independent
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Egypt Independent
Bus carrying Afghans deported from Iran crashes, killing dozens
A bus carrying Afghans recently deported from Iran crashed and burst into flames Tuesday, killing dozens of men, women and children. At least 76 people were killed after a collision on a highway in the city of Herat, governor spokesperson Mufti Mohammad Yousuf Saeedi told CNN. The bus, which had departed from Islam Qala, a town near Afghanistan-Iran border, was heading toward capital Kabul, when it crashed, Saeedi said. Video from the site shows the bus engulfed in flames with thick plumes of smoke billowing into the sky. Photos show the vehicle charred as people gather around it. The burned bodies of the passengers were transferred to a provincial hospital, according to Ahmadullah Muttaqi, Director of the Information and Culture Department in Herat Province. At least 17 children were killed in the crash, Muttaqi said. The devastating crash comes as Iran has intensified the deportation of undocumented Afghan migrants. Tehran had previously declared its intention to remove the millions of undocumented Afghans who carry out lower-paid labor across Iran, often in tough conditions. The deportations – part of a program Iran announced in March – radically increased in the days after Iran's conflict with Israel, fueled by unsubstantiated claims that Afghans had spied for Israel prior to and during the attacks. More than half a million Afghans were expelled from Iran in the 16 days after its conflict with Israel ended in June, according to the United Nations, in what may be one of the largest forced movements of population this decade. Many Afghans have lived for years in Iran, often in semi-permanent conditions despite lacking documentation. The abrupt rise in deportations and claims of Afghans spying attracted international condemnation.
Bangkok Post
14 hours ago
- Bangkok Post
Afghanistan bus crash kills 76
KABUL — A traffic accident in Afghanistan's western Herat province killed 76 people, including 17 children, on Tuesday night when a bus carrying deported migrants to Kabul caught fire after colliding with a truck and motorcycle, a government official said. "Seventy-six citizens of the country... lost their lives in the incident, and three others were seriously injured," Mohammad Yousuf Saeedi, Herat provincial government spokesman, said in a statement. The dead were transferred to a military hospital, with more than a dozen children among those killed, army statements said. Many of the bodies were "unidentifiable", said Mohammad Janan Moqadas, chief physician of Al-Farooq Army Corps Hospital. Police in Guzara district outside Herat city, where the accident took place on Tuesday night, said the bus collided with a motorcycle and a truck carrying fuel, sparking a fire. An Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist on Tuesday night saw the burnt shell of the bus on the road hours after the accident. The bus was carrying Afghans recently returned from Iran to the capital Kabul, Saeedi told AFP on Tuesday. At least 1.5 million people have returned to Afghanistan since the start of this year from Iran and Pakistan, both of which have sought to force migrants out after decades of hosting them, according to the United Nations (UN) migration agency. Many of those returning spent years outside the country and arrive without a place to go and carrying few belongings, facing steep challenges to resettle in a country facing endemic poverty and high unemployment. The state-run Bakhtar News Agency said Tuesday's accident was one of the deadliest in the country in recent years. Traffic accidents are common in Afghanistan, due in part to poor roads after decades of conflict, dangerous driving on highways and a lack of regulation. In December last year, two bus accidents involving a fuel tanker and a truck on a highway through central Afghanistan killed at least 52. In March 2024, more than 20 people were killed and 38 injured when a bus collided with a fuel tanker and burst into flames in southern Helmand province. Another serious accident involving a fuel tanker took place in December 2022, when the vehicle overturned and caught fire in Afghanistan's high-altitude Salang Pass, killing 31 people.
New Straits Times
15 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Afghanistan bus crash death toll rises to 76
GUZARA: The death toll from a collision between a bus carrying Afghan migrants returning from Iran and two other vehicles in western Afghanistan has risen to 76, a provincial official said on Wednesday. "Seventy-six citizens of the country... lost their lives in the incident, and three others were seriously injured," Mohammad Yousuf Saeedi, Herat provincial government spokesman, said in a statement. Police in Guzara district outside Herat city, where the accident took place on Tuesday night, said the bus collided with a motorcycle and a truck carrying fuel, sparking a fire. The bus was carrying Afghans recently returned from Iran to the capital Kabul, Saeedi told AFP on Tuesday. At least 1.5 million people have returned to Afghanistan since the start of this year from Iran and Pakistan, both of which have sought to force migrants out after decades of hosting them, according to the UN migration agency. The state-run Bakhtar News Agency said Tuesday's accident was one of the deadliest in the country in recent years. Traffic accidents are common in Afghanistan, due in part to poor roads after decades of conflict, dangerous driving on highways and a lack of regulation. In December last year, two bus accidents involving a fuel tanker and a truck on a highway through central Afghanistan killed at least 52.
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First Post
17 hours ago
- First Post
Afghanistan: 17 children among 76 dead as bus catches fire after collision with truck in Herat
The dead were transferred to a military hospital, with more than a dozen children among those killed, army statements said The wreckage of a bus is towed at the site of a crash in Guzara district of Herat province on August 20, 2025. AFP The death toll from a collision between a bus carrying Afghan migrants returning from Iran and two other vehicles in western Afghanistan has risen to 76, a provincial official said on Wednesday. 'Seventy-six citizens of the country… lost their lives in the incident, and three others were seriously injured,' Mohammad Yousuf Saeedi, Herat provincial government spokesman, said in a statement. The dead were transferred to a military hospital, with more than a dozen children among those killed, army statements said. Many of the bodies were 'unidentifiable', said Mohammad Janan Moqadas, chief physician of Al-Farooq Army Corps Hospital. Police in Guzara district outside Herat city, where the accident took place on Tuesday night, said the bus collided with a motorcycle and a truck carrying fuel, sparking a fire. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD An AFP journalist on Tuesday night saw the burnt shell of the bus on the road hours after the accident. The bus was carrying Afghans recently returned from Iran to the capital Kabul, Saeedi told AFP on Tuesday. At least 1.5 million people have returned to Afghanistan since the start of this year from Iran and Pakistan, both of which have sought to force migrants out after decades of hosting them, according to the UN migration agency. Many of those returning spent years outside the country and arrive without a place to go and carrying few belongings, facing steep challenges to resettle in a country facing endemic poverty and high unemployment. The state-run Bakhtar News Agency said Tuesday's accident was one of the deadliest in the country in recent years. Traffic accidents are common in Afghanistan, due in part to poor roads after decades of conflict, dangerous driving on highways and a lack of regulation. In December last year, two bus accidents involving a fuel tanker and a truck on a highway through central Afghanistan killed at least 52. In March 2024, more than 20 people were killed and 38 injured when a bus collided with a fuel tanker and burst into flames in southern Helmand province. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Another serious accident involving a fuel tanker took place in December 2022, when the vehicle overturned and caught fire in Afghanistan's high-altitude Salang Pass, killing 31 people.
Herald Malaysia
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Herald Malaysia
Over 50 dead after bus carrying returning Afghan migrants hits truck
Bus was carrying Afghans recently returned from Iran and en route to the capital Kabul, says provincial governor spokesman Aug 20, 2025 Taliban security personnel stand around a coffin of a passenger at a hospital after two bus accidents on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, in Ghazni on Dec. 19, 2024. (Photo: AFP) By AFP, Afghanistan More than 50 people were killed in western Afghanistan late on Aug. 19 when a passenger bus carrying migrants recently returned from Iran collided with a truck and a motorcycle, local police and a provincial official said. Police in Herat province said the accident was caused due to the bus' "excessive speed and negligence" on a road outside Herat city in Guzara bus was carrying Afghans recently returned from Iran and en route to the capital Kabul, provincial governor spokesman Mohammad Yousuf Saeedi said."All the passengers were migrants who had boarded the vehicle in Islam Qala," said Saeedi, referring to a border crossing point. A massive wave of Afghans have returned from Iran in recent months after Tehran initiated a pressure campaign to force millions of migrants to leave. At least 1.5 million people have returned to Afghanistan since the start of this year from Iran and Pakistan, who have long hosted millions of Afghans fleeing decades of war and humanitarian crises, according to the United Nations' migration agency. Police in Guzara district said a motorcycle was also involved in the accident on Aug. 19 night. The bus first collided with the motorcycle, then hit the truck, which was carrying fuel, police said, adding that the collision sparked a fire. Three bus passengers survived, according to police. Two people travelling in the truck and another two on the motorcycle were among the dead. Journalists at the site saw the burnt shell of the bus on the road hours after the accident, along with the broken remains of the two other vehicles. Traffic accidents are common in Afghanistan, due in part to poor roads after decades of conflict, dangerous driving on highways, and a lack of regulation. In December last year, two bus accidents involving a fuel tanker and a truck on a highway through central Afghanistan killed at least
