The crash occurred on Sunday afternoon in Thi Qar province as the bus traveled from the holy Shiite city of Najaf to the southern port city of Basra, according to Ahmad Saleem, spokesperson for the Thi Qar provincial council.

Saleem said 14 of the victims were burned beyond recognition, complicating identification efforts. Two Iranian nationals are believed to be among the dead, although authorities had not yet confirmed their identities.

Twenty people were injured in the accident, including two Iranian passengers who were transferred to Iran on Monday morning through coordination with the Iranian Consulate in Basra, Saleem said.

Local officials attributed the crash to poor road conditions. Saleem said provincial authorities had previously raised concerns about the condition of the roadway where the accident occurred, which lies between Thi Qar and Diwaniyah provinces.

He also said a severe shortage of ambulances in Thi Qar province hindered emergency response efforts following the crash.

The accident is the latest in a series of deadly road incidents in Iraq, where decades of conflict, corruption and underinvestment have strained infrastructure development and maintenance. Poorly maintained highways, aging vehicle fleets and weak enforcement of traffic regulations have contributed to a high rate of road fatalities across the country.

In 2023, a bus carrying pilgrims bound for the Iraqi city of Karbala crashed north of Baghdad, killing 18 people.

Authorities have not released further details on the cause of Sunday’s crash as identification efforts and investigations continue.

The accident occurred in Afghanistan’s eastern Laghman province along the Kabul-Nangarhar highway, a key transport route linking the capital Kabul with the country’s eastern regions.

The passengers were among Afghan nationals returning from neighboring Pakistan amid ongoing deportations and migration enforcement measures that have accelerated cross-border movements in recent years.

Abdul Malik Niazai, spokesperson for the Laghman provincial governor, said the truck plunged into a ditch after overturning. He reported that 10 children and five women were among those killed in the crash.

Aminullah Sharif, the provincial director of public health, confirmed the death toll at 22 and said approximately 36 people were injured. The wounded were transported to hospitals in neighboring Nangarhar province for treatment.

Officials said preliminary information indicated the driver fell asleep before the vehicle veered off the road and crashed. Authorities did not immediately provide details on the truck’s capacity or whether passengers were being transported in conditions compliant with transport regulations.

The victims were among thousands of Afghans who have recently returned from Pakistan, which launched a crackdown on undocumented migrants in 2023 and has since deported or pressured large numbers of Afghans to leave. Iran has also intensified expulsions of Afghan migrants, contributing to a sustained flow of returnees into Afghanistan.

Millions of Afghans have returned from Pakistan and Iran in recent years, including many who were born abroad or had spent decades living and working in the two neighboring countries.

In a separate incident, officials in eastern Nuristan province said a vehicle plunged into a river late on Friday, injuring its driver and leaving four passengers missing. Rescue teams continued search operations on Saturday.

Road accidents remain a persistent challenge across Afghanistan, where aging infrastructure, poorly maintained roads and limited enforcement of traffic regulations contribute to high rates of fatal crashes.

The accident occurred on a road linking the Swat region with Peshawar after a passenger bus suffered a mechanical fault and was forced to stop along the roadside. Passengers had exited the vehicle and were waiting nearby when an approaching van veered into the crowd and struck both the stranded travelers and the parked bus.

Bilal Ahmad Faizi, a rescue official, said at least 17 people were killed in the collision, while more than 10 others sustained injuries. He added that three of the injured were in critical condition.

Muhammad Ali, a doctor at a local hospital treating victims from the crash, confirmed the death toll.
Emergency responders transported the injured to nearby medical facilities as authorities worked to identify victims and determine the circumstances that led to the van losing control.

Many of those involved in the accident were traveling home ahead of Eid, one of the most significant religious holidays in the Muslim calendar, a period that typically sees a sharp increase in road traffic across Pakistan.

Fatal road accidents remain a persistent challenge in the country, where authorities and safety experts have long cited weak enforcement of traffic regulations, excessive speeding, inadequate road safety measures and reckless driving as major contributors to high casualty rates.