35 killed, 30 injured in central Syria bus collision

At least 35 people were killed and 30 others injured Saturday when two passenger buses collided on the Deir ez-Zor–Damascus highway in central Syria, according to the Health Ministry.

“The death toll from the collision involving two passenger buses on the Deir ez-Zor–Damascus highway has so far reached 35, with 30 others injured,” the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) quoted Najib al-Naasan, director of the ministry’s Referral, Ambulance and Emergency Directorate, as saying.

The Syrian Interior Ministry expressed “profound sorrow” over the crash, saying it involved a bus carrying members of the Internal Security Forces and a civilian bus.

Ambulance crews and other relevant authorities were dispatched to the scene to transport the injured and recover the victims, it added.

Emergency and Disaster Management Minister Raed al-Saleh said the collision occurred near the city of Al-Sukhnah on the Palmyra–Deir ez-Zor highway.

Civil defense teams extinguished a fire at the scene, administered first aid and transported the injured to hospitals, he said.

The teams also recovered the victims’ bodies and coordinated the response with the Interior and Health Ministries, al-Saleh added.