Kabul, Aug 20 (EFE).- At least 76 people, mostly Afghan migrants recently deported from Iran, were killed Tuesday night in western Afghanistan when the bus they were traveling in caught fire after a multiple collision.<\/p>
Herat province government spokesperson Mufti Mohammad Yousuf Saeedi told EFE that the bus, which was traveling from Islam Qala border post to Kabul, collided with a cargo truck and a motorcycle on the Herat ring road and caught fire after the impact.<\/p>
“Adults, women, children, the bus driver, the motorist and the driver of the Mazda are among the victims,” the spokesperson said, adding that the three injured were in “critical condition.”<\/p>
Most of the bus passengers were Afghan refugees being deported from neighboring countries, mainly Iran and Pakistan.<\/p>
Many of those now deported were among the hundreds of thousands that fled Afghanistan in August in 2021 for fear of the Taliban returning to power.<\/p>
They now face a life under the same powers they sought to escape, while Afghanistan remains plunged in a deep crisis, with more than half of its population in need of aid, according to the United Nations.<\/p>
The incident occurred just a day after Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni announced that another 800,000 Afghans would have to leave the country before March next year.<\/p>
The local administration of Herat expressed its condolences to the families of the victims, adding that “rescue teams and medical personnel arrived immediately at the scene of the accident and transferred the injured to the hospitals in Herat.”<\/p>
Road accidents are frequent in Afghanistan, largely due to poor road conditions after decades of war, dangerous driving on highways and lack of regulation. In July, another accident on the same highway resulted in 11 deaths. EFE <\/p>
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