Afghanistan bus crash kills 25, injures 27: authorities

Published August 27, 2025
Afghans stand at the accident site after a passenger bus overturned on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, on the outskirts of Maidan Wardak province in Afghanistan on August 27. — AFP
Afghans stand at the accident site after a passenger bus overturned on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, on the outskirts of Maidan Wardak province in Afghanistan on August 27. — AFP

At least 25 people were killed and 27 injured when a bus overturned in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, authorities told AFP, a week after the country’s deadliest road accident in years.

The crash happened “due to the driver’s negligence” on a highway near the capital Kabul, leading to the southern city of Kandahar, interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said.

Qani said 25 people were killed and 27 were being treated at hospitals for injuries, the extent of which was not specified.

Deadly traffic crashes are common in Afghanistan, due in part to poor roads after decades of conflict, dangerous driving on highways and a lack of regulation.

Last Tuesday, 78 people, including more than a dozen children, were killed in western Herat province when a bus carrying migrants returning from Iran collided with a motorcycle and a truck, according to authorities.

In December last year, two bus accidents involving a fuel tanker and a truck on a highway through central Afghanistan killed at least 52.

Opinion

Editorial

Khamenei’s killing
Updated 02 Mar, 2026

Khamenei’s killing

THERE is no question about it: with the brutal assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and...
NFC reform
02 Mar, 2026

NFC reform

PLANNING Minister Ahsan Iqbal’s call for forward-looking reforms in the NFC Award has reopened an important debate...
Migrant crisis
02 Mar, 2026

Migrant crisis

MIGRANT casualties represent the lifelong pain of families left behind. Yet countries do little to preserve ...
A new war
Updated 01 Mar, 2026

A new war

UNLESS there is an immediate diplomatic breakthrough, the joint Israeli-American aggression against Iran launched on...
Breaking the cycle
01 Mar, 2026

Breaking the cycle

THE confrontation between Pakistan and Afghanistan has taken a dangerous turn. Attacks, retaliatory strikes and the...
Anonymous collections
01 Mar, 2026

Anonymous collections

THE widespread emergence of ‘nameless donation boxes’ soliciting charity in cities and towns across Punjab...