Afghanistan: 31 dead in Salang tunnel fire

The Afghanistan health ministry announced that 31 people died from the fire that started in the Salang tunnel this week. The death toll rose from the initial finding that 12 people were dead in the fire.

A spokesperson for the Afghan health ministry said Monday that the death toll of the fire in the Salang tunnel has gone up to 31, while 37 others were wounded from the blaze in the tunnel, which is located around 96 kilometers north of Afghanistan’s capital Kabul. The Afghan public works ministry said the fire was caused by a fuel truck that overturned and tore through the tunnel Saturday evening.

The death toll in the tunnel fire was initially estimated at 12 by authorities on Sunday, but officials said at the time that the number would likely increase.

The tunnel is still closed to the public, and the public works ministry spokesperson said that they plan to reopen the tunnel on Tuesday.

On Friday, the United Nations General Assembly decided to postpone the vote to determine whether Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers, along with the generals that make up Myanmar’s junta, are allowed to be represented in the international body. The UNGA approved the decision by the UN Credentials Committee without a vote, also taking the same action on Libya’s seat in the United Nations.

With the postponement, the current representatives of the three countries remain. However, the UN Credentials Committee said it can “revert to consideration of these credentials at a future time” in the UNGA’s 77th session that will end in September 2023.

This follows competing claims made on the seats of the three countries, between the Taliban and its fallen western-backed government, the ousted civilian government of Myanmar and the generals that seized power, and between Libya’s Government of National Unity by Tripoli and the “Government of National Stability” led by Fathi Bashagha and backed by the parliament in eastern Libya.

Thursday last week, the British defense ministry announced that it would be launching an investigation into allegations that its special forces carried out dozens of extrajudicial killings during night raids in Afghanistan. This follows the report by the BBC’s Panorama program back in July, alleging that British soldiers from the elite Special Air Service killed 54 people in suspicious circumstances.