KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Three Afghan nationals died on Wednesday after being exposed to toxic gas while working inside a well in the Iranian city of Saveh, a relative of one of the victims confirmed.
The victims were identified as 22-year-old Sohrab Mohammadi, 44-year-old Mohammaduddin Astana and 25-year-old Ghulam Mahmoudi. All three were residents of Qaisar district in Afghanistan’s northern Faryab province.
A relative told KabulNow that the men died on September 9 while working in the well. Iranian news agency Rokna reported that the three workers were trapped and killed after the well suddenly collapsed during excavation work at the Kaveh industrial complex.
According to the relative, Astana had served as a police officer under Afghanistan’s former government. The other two men were married and worked as laborers.
The bodies of the three workers are expected to be transferred to Afghanistan.
Afghan citizens have previously died in similar accidents in Iran. Lack of adequate safety measures is considered one of the factors contributing to such incidents. Afghans in Iran are largely employed in hard and hazardous labor, including well digging and construction work.
The latest deaths come as many Afghans continue to travel to Iran in search of employment amid economic hardship and limited job opportunities in Afghanistan. Some travel through legal channels, while others use irregular routes and pay smugglers to cross the border.
Irregular journeys across remote and arid areas can expose migrants to significant risks, including extreme heat, dehydration and accidents.
At least 17 Afghan nationals, including five women and six children, died from severe thirst last Thursday while attempting to enter Iran through an irregular route across a desert near Saravan in southeastern Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iranian outlet Haalvsh reported.
Haalvsh reported that the group had attempted to cross the area irregularly and that the bodies of some of the victims were buried in Sistan and Baluchestan on Sunday, four days after the incident.
