Herat, Aug 20 (V7N) – At least 71 people were killed in a devastating bus crash in western Afghanistan’s Herat province on Monday, officials confirmed. The victims were Afghan refugees recently deported from Iran.

Provincial spokesman Ahmadullah Muttaki and police sources told Al Jazeera that the bus, carrying deportees from Iran, collided with a truck and a motorcycle in the Gujara district outside Herat city.

Mohammad Yousuf Saeedi, a provincial official, said the crash was caused by “excessive speed and negligence” of the bus driver. Most of the victims were passengers on the bus, while two people in the truck and two on the motorcycle were also killed.

Taliban government spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid confirmed the victims were among those forced to return from Iran but noted that detailed information on their identities was still being collected.

Deadly road accidents are common in Afghanistan due to poor road conditions and unsafe driving practices. In December last year, at least 52 people were killed in two separate bus accidents.

The tragedy comes just a day after Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni announced that 800,000 more Afghans would have to leave Iran by March. Each year, hundreds of thousands of Afghans cross the 300-kilometer border into Iran to escape conflict, poverty, and persecution, often working in construction and other low-wage sectors. However, Tehran has recently toughened its stance on undocumented Afghan refugees.

END/SMA/AJ