Three Kazakh drivers have been imprisoned for five years afer a court heard how 52 Uzbeks were killed in a bus fire caused by an open flame on a portable gas cooker that was being used to heat the vehicle.

A court in the northwestern city of Aqtobe on November 9 found the Kazakhs guilty of involuntary manslaughter and violating vehicle safety regulations. As well as the prison sentences, the trio had their driving licences taken away for seven years.

The bus was bound for Russia, where the Uzbeks were travelling for migrant work.

Two employees of Asia Transit Service, who owned the bus destroyed by the fire in January, were found guilty of using a technically unfit vehicle for commercial use and sentenced to three and a half years in a penal settlement. All five men put on trial pleaded not guilty at the beginning of the trial in September 3.

The Kazakh authorities’ willingness to conduct the trial and find the men involved guilty is likely a positive sign for Kazakh-Uzbek relations, which have been improving since the coming to power of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in late 2016.

Uzbekistan depends on migrant workers who take jobs in Russia for a large share of its foreign exchange earnings. Remittances are equivalent to 13-15% of Uzbekistan's GDP, according to independent Uzbek analysts. Most remittances come from Russia. As such, the accident is indicative of generally under-reported levels of unemployment and poverty in parts of Uzbekistan, where Uzbeks typically find themselves turning to migrant work, but often can only afford to reach Russia via cheap but potentially unsafe means.

The bus was apparently a 29-year-old German-built Setra, the technical safety certificate of which expired in 2016. No licence for it to transport passengers had been issued.

Among the 52 who died in the fire, 31 were identified as residents of Namagan province in Uzbekistan.