Bus crash in Afghanistan kills 79 people returning from Iran

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A bus crash in northwestern Afghanistan killed at least 79 people returning from Iran, including 19 children, an official said.

Two people were also injured in the crash, Interior Ministry spokesperson Abdul Mateen Qani told The Associated Press.

Tolo News, citing the official, said the crashed happened around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in Herat province. The bus collided with a truck and a motorbike, causing a massive fire that killed many on the spot, the outlet reported.

Nearly 1.8 million Afghans have been forcibly returned from Iran in the past few months. A further 184,459 were sent back from Pakistan and more than 5,000 were deported from Turkey since the beginning of the year. Additionally, nearly 10,000 Afghan prisoners have been repatriated, mostly from Pakistan.

The Taliban criticized neighboring countries in July for the mass expulsion of Afghans, as Iran and Pakistan expel foreigners who they say are living there illegally. The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation said some 6 million Afghan refugees remain overseas.

Advocacy group Save the Children called on countries to ensure that returns to Afghanistan were safe and noted that forced returns of children risked further harm.

“This horrific tragedy is a stark reminder of the deadly risks hundreds of thousands of Afghan children face on their journeys from Iran," a group official, Samira Sayed Rahman, said in a statement.

Traffic accidents are common in Afghanistan, mainly due to poor road conditions and driver carelessness.