Over 70 people, including 17 children, died in Afghanistan after a bus crashed and caught fire, NBC News reported. The bus was carrying migrants deported from Iran and was headed toward Kabul on August 19.
The tragedy occurred when a motorbike and another vehicle collided with the bus in Herat province, near the Iranian border. “The car was carrying fuel and it caught fire after a head-on collision with the bus, fully loaded with passengers,” said Afghan official Ahmadullah Muttaqi. Not a single passenger survived. Two people from other vehicles also died, and two were injured.
Most victims were Afghan refugees recently expelled from Iran. “These Afghan refugees were returning home after spending a long time in Iran,” Muttaqi explained. “But they could not reach their destination as their bus met with a tragic accident.”
Mass deportations have been ongoing since October 2023. Nearly 1.8 million Afghans were forced out of Iran and about 400,000 from Pakistan in 2025 alone. Despite this, around 6 million Afghan refugees still live abroad.
Deadly road accidents are common in Afghanistan, where war-damaged infrastructure and poor enforcement of traffic laws make travel especially dangerous.
