A tragic road accident occurred on the night of August 19, 2025, in Guzara district, Herat province, western Afghanistan, leaving at least 76 people dead, including 17 children. The provincial government of Herat spokesperson, Mohammad Yousuf Saeedi, said three more people were gravely hurt.

 A truck carrying fuel and a motorcycle crashed with a bus transporting Afghan migrants returning from Iran.  The collision resulted in a fire that spread throughout the bus, killing a significant number of people.  The bodies of many victims were badly charred and were hard to identify.

After leaving the Islam Qala border post, the bus crashed on the Herat-Islam Qala Highway toward Kabul. According to local officials, the bus's speed, in addition to the driver's negligence, contributed to the accident.

This highway leads into northern Iran's most critical lifeline and links to the Afghan provinces of the country and out of Afghanistan. The highway has dirt roads, poor conditions, and lack of safety features that increase exposure to accidents. Historically, the highway has had a significant history of accidents, with a record of deaths from accidents involving buses and fuel tankers.

Most of the victims were deported Afghans forcibly sent back to Afghanistan from Iran. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) indicates over 1.5 million Afghans return home from Iran and Pakistan since January 2025, and for most of them, they returned in difficult situations after many years being in these places. However, the Afghan returnees will return to extreme impoverishment with little if any permanent housing arrangements and unequal access to housing, health care, education, and other basic services.

The bus crash speaks to the continuing plight of Afghan migrants and surviving through the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Several international organizations including the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration provide update reports and recommendations calling for better protections for migrants and prevention measures.

Ultimately, Herat authorities continue to investigate the bus accident but also have called for better safety measures, start implementing stricter enforcement of traffic laws, and improving bad economic conditions through customs modifications and infrastructure improvement to minimize, limit, and eliminate accidents like this one.