At least four people were killed and 10 others remained missing after a truck carrying a family of returning Afghan migrants and their belongings plunged into a river in eastern Laghman province.
The accident occurred at about 10:30 p.m. Friday in the Khair Khel area along the Kabul-Jalalabad highway, the Taliban governor’s office in Laghman said in a statement.
Preliminary figures showed that rescuers had recovered the bodies of four people and pulled eight injured people from the river. Ten others remained missing, the statement said.
The office attributed the crash to driver negligence, though it said a full assessment of the accident had not yet been completed.
Search and rescue operations were continuing for those still missing, the statement said, adding that further details would be released after authorities completed their assessment of the accident.
The crash comes as hundreds of Afghan migrants return each day through the Torkham border crossing after being deported from Pakistan, placing additional pressure on transport routes linking eastern Afghanistan with Kabul.
The Kabul-Jalalabad highway, a crucial route connecting the capital with eastern Afghanistan, has long been considered one of the country’s most dangerous roads. Poor road conditions, difficult terrain and reckless driving have contributed to frequent deadly accidents along the route.
