A collision between a bus carrying Afghans recently returned from Iran and two other vehicles in Guzara district, Herat province, caused an explosive fire that killed 78 people. Two of three initially surviving passengers later died of their injuries. Seventeen children were reported killed by the army spokesperson, while a provincial police source put the number at 19. Many bodies were unidentifiable, complicating identification at the military hospital. Witnesses described intense fire and screaming and an inability to approach within fifty metres to rescue anyone. Cleanup teams removed the torched bus shell and twisted wreckage, and the central Taliban government called for an investigation. At least 1.5 million people have returned to Afghanistan this year from Iran and Pakistan, with many arriving impoverished and facing steep resettlement challenges.
There was a lot of fire There was a lot of screaming but we couldn't even get within 50 metres to rescue anyone, Akbar Tawakoli, a witness, said.
I was very saddened that most of the passengers on the bus were children and women, another witness said.
It is with deep sorrow that we mourn the loss of numerous Afghan lives and the injuries sustained in a tragic bus collision and subsequent fire in Herat province last night, it said.
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