President Emomali Rahmon yesterday sent a cable of condolences to his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev over a bus fire accident that resulted in the death of dozens of people.  

In his message, Emomali Rahmon expressed his deepest sympathy and condolences to President Mirziyoyev and the families and relatives of the victims.

Meanwhile, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have launched investigations into the massive bus fire that killed 52 Uzbeks as they traveled through Kazakhstan.

Russian news agency Interfax reported that Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev created a special government commission late on January 18 to investigate the death of Uzbeks in the fire, headed by Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov.

The inferno broke out on the bus as it was traveling through Kazakhstan’s northwestern Aktobe region carrying what authorities said were mostly Uzbek migrant workers on their way to Russia.

The accident had only five survivors and was one of the deadliest to occur worldwide in the last five years.