A devastating road accident in western Afghanistan has killed at least 71 people, including 17 children, when a passenger bus caught fire following a collision with a truck and a motorcycle, officials said.

The incident took place on Tuesday in Herat province. Local police said the bus, which was carrying Afghan migrants deported from Iran, burst into flames after the impact.

“The driver was speeding, and his negligence caused the tragedy,” provincial police said in a statement. Videos circulating on social media showed the bus engulfed in flames as residents rushed to the scene, but few passengers could be rescued.

Mohammad Yousuf Zaidi, spokesperson for Herat’s provincial administration, confirmed that all the passengers were Afghan returnees traveling from Islam Qala – a border town with Iran – to Kabul. “They were migrants deported from Iran. Unfortunately, none reached their destination,” he told reporters. The crash comes just a day after Iran’s deputy interior minister, Eskandar Momeni, announced that nearly 800,000 undocumented Afghan migrants would be expelled by next month. Iran has long hosted millions of Afghans fleeing conflict, poverty, and Taliban rule, but Tehran has tightened restrictions in recent years amid economic hardship.

Road accidents are frequent in Afghanistan, where poor infrastructure, reckless driving, and overloaded vehicles contribute to high fatality rates. However, Tuesday’s crash is among the deadliest in recent memory, adding to the hardship faced by Afghan families displaced across borders.