The bodies of 14 Afghans attempting to reach Iran were found in a scorching desert in southwestern Afghanistan, officials said on Saturday, weeks after their vehicle broke down and they set off by foot.
Authorities have been searching for the group since the driver of the vehicle staggered into a village in Nimroz province, parched and exhausted, seeking help.
Five bodies were found soon after, but authorities launched a hunt for 14 others who had continued the journey on foot.
Nimroz is one of Afghanistan’s hottest and most arid provinces, with temperatures hovering around 45C at this time of year.
The 14 bodies were found buried in sand, a source at the Nimroz provincial hospital told AFP on Saturday.
Provincial government spokesman Abdul Mutawakil Tawhidi confirmed the grisly desert find on Friday.
Iran is a popular destination for Afghan migrants seeking economic opportunity not available at home, but legal avenues for entry are scarce.
“These 14 young men are from our village. They had left home 23 days ago, and today we are receiving their bodies,” Abdul Khaleq, a resident of Qolghi in the eastern province of Badghis, told AFP before heading to the cemetery for the burial.
Afghan authorities are “firmly continuing their fight against (…) human trafficking,” Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said in a statement to national broadcaster RTA.
While temperatures in the border areas between Afghanistan and Iran can soar in the summer, they also plummet to dangerous levels in the winter.
At least 18 Afghans attempting the perilous crossing into Iran died in the cold last December, including a fifteen-year-old boy.
