On Saturday (July 25), in Syria, two buses collided on the highway connecting the capital Damascus with the eastern Deir el-Zour province, resulting in at least 35 deaths and 30 injuries. The cause of the accident is still unclear.
This is a crucial highway, stretching over 400 kilometers (249 miles), linking the Syrian capital to the eastern region. According to the Syrian state news agency SANA, the collision occurred between Al-Sukhna and Palmyra on the Deir el-Zour-Damascus highway.
Dr. Najeeb Al Naasan, Director of the Health Ministry’s Ambulance and Emergency Department, told SANA that as of now, the accident has claimed 35 lives and left 30 injured. The incident involved a civilian bus colliding with an internal security ministry bus.
The Internal Ministry stated that one bus was carrying members of the internal security forces while the other was transporting civilians. The ministry added that ambulances have been dispatched to the scene.
According to SANA, the Syrian Ministry of Defense has also deployed multiple helicopters to transport the injured and the bodies of the deceased to the Homs Military Hospital.
The Deir el-Zour-Damascus highway, where the incident occurred on Saturday, has long been known for its low safety standards, reflecting the dilapidated state of Syria’s civilian infrastructure after nearly 14 years of ongoing civil war.
In October last year, Syria’s Minister of Disaster Management and Emergency Response, Raed al-Saleh, stated that between January and the end of September last year, the country witnessed over 2,000 road traffic accidents, emphasizing that such incidents are a leading cause of civilian fatalities.