• At least 79 people, including 19 children, were killed in a bus crash in Afghanistan.
• The victims were returning from Iran after being deported amid increased Iranian restrictions.
• The bus collided with a truck and motorcycle, catching fire in the process.
• Witnesses reported horrifying scenes of flames and casualties as the bus burned.
• Authorities are investigating the accident, which is one of the deadliest in recent Afghan history.

A bus carrying Afghan migrants who were expelled from Iran crashed in western Afghanistan, resulting in at least 79 deaths, including 19 children. The accident occurred when the bus collided with a fuel truck and a motorcycle in Herat province while en route to Kabul, according to local officials, including Abdul Mateen Qani from the Interior Ministry and Mohammad Yousuf Saeedi, a provincial spokesman, as reported by BBC and euronews.

The incident took place late Tuesday, and subsequent investigations revealed that three survivors had escaped the charred remains of the bus, but two later succumbed to their injuries. Eyewitness accounts described "a lot of fire" and "screaming," indicating the chaos at the scene, as noted by Middle East Eye and Al Jazeera.

This tragedy highlights the ongoing crisis of Afghan migrants, with more than 1.5 million returning to Afghanistan this year alone from Iran, driven by heightened deportations and systemic discrimination. The U.N. reports that many of these individuals are returning to a country suffering from chronic poverty and lack of infrastructure, as emphasized by TRT Global and SCMP.

The Taliban administration has expressed sorrow over the incident and called for the transportation authorities to investigate the cause of the crash. The deadliest accidents have raised issues of safety on Afghan roads, which have suffered from decades of conflict and inadequate regulation, a sentiment shared by multiple sources, including India Times and Dawn.