Kabul
At least 76 people, including 17 children, lost their lives in a devastating road accident in western Afghanistan when a bus carrying refugees collided with a motorcycle and a truck before catching fire, officials confirmed on Sunday.
Provincial government spokesman Ahmadullah Muttaqi said the accident took place on the route to Kabul, near the Islam Qala border crossing. The victims were Afghan refugees recently deported from Iran.
According to local police, the crash was caused by excessive speed and negligence on the part of the bus driver. Provincial official Mohammad Yousuf Saeedi stated that all the passengers had boarded at Islam Qala after being expelled from Iran.
The collision sequence began when the bus struck a motorcycle before crashing into a fuel-laden truck. The impact was so severe that both vehicles were engulfed in flames, killing the majority of passengers instantly.
Only three people survived the accident, while two people in the truck and two on the motorcycle were also among the dead.
This tragedy comes amid a massive wave of deportations, with Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni recently announcing that around 800,000 Afghan refugees will be expelled by March 2026.
Authorities in Afghanistan have expressed deep sorrow over the incident, calling it one of the deadliest road accidents in recent times.
