JALALABAD: A truck overturned in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing 18 people, including 10 children, a provincial official said.
The vehicle was carrying Afghan families returning from Pakistan when it crashed on the road between Jalalabad and the capital, Kabul, according to Abdul Malik Niazay, spokesperson for the governor of Laghman province.
“Eighteen people have died, including 10 children, five women and three men. In addition, 29 people have been injured,” Niazay said.
Authorities said the victims were part of a group of Afghan migrants returning home from Pakistan, where they had been living.
Road accidents are frequent in Afghanistan due to poor infrastructure, decades of conflict, lax traffic regulation and dangerous driving conditions.
Pakistan has recently tightened its policy on Afghan refugees and migrants, prompting increased returns. According to figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), around 447,400 Afghans have returned from Pakistan since the start of the year.
More read, Heavy rain, floods kill 22 people in Afghanistan
Earlier, at least 25 people have lost their lives after intense rainfall triggered severe flooding in Afghanistan, leading to the collapse of numerous buildings.
Over the past two days, 32 people have also been injured, according to the country’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), which warned on Monday, March 30, that the threat of further bad weather remains high.
An NDMA official reported that 22 fatalities, 32 injuries, and damage to 241 homes were recorded across 13 provinces due to floods and other weather-related incidents.
The worst-affected areas include central and eastern provinces such as Parwan, Maidan Wardak, Daykundi, and Logar, where heavy downpours caused flash floods that destroyed homes, particularly in rural and mountainous regions.
