The death toll from a crash involving a bus carrying Afghan migrants returning from Iran and two other vehicles in western Afghanistan has risen to 78, provincial officials said Wednesday.
Seventy-six people died in the accident in Herat province's Guzara district Tuesday night when the passenger bus hit a motorcycle and a truck transporting fuel, causing an explosive fire, officials and eyewitnesses said.
Two of the three survivors later died of their injuries, officials said Wednesday.
"Two injured individuals from last night's incident succumbed to severe injuries, increasing the number of victims to 78," a statement by the provincial information department said, citing representatives of the military hospital that received victims.
Seventeen children were among those killed, according to army spokesman Mujeebullah Ansar, though a provincial police source put the number at 19.
