A collision between two passenger buses in a central-eastern desert region of Syria on Saturday resulted in at least 35 fatalities, according to state media.
The state news agency SANA, citing a health ministry official, reported that 30 additional individuals were injured in the collision on the Damascus-Deir ez-Zor highway.
The interior ministry stated that the accident involved a bus transporting several internal security personnel and a civilian bus, though it did not specify the exact number of security forces casualties.
State media aired footage of the incident, showing a bus engulfed in flames and debris littered across the highway, and confirmed that military helicopters were dispatched to evacuate the wounded.
Emergency and disaster management minister Raed al‑Saleh characterized the crash as one of the deadliest road accidents in Syria in recent years, given the high death toll.
He emphasized that the tragedy imposes a collective national duty to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
The incident underscores the urgent need to confront the long‑standing challenges facing Syria’s road infrastructure, which has suffered years of neglect and damage to public services.
Earlier this month, five individuals were killed and dozens more injured—many of them Lebanese pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia—when a bus overturned on a highway in the southern province of Daraa.
Years of civil war and neglect have left Syria’s infrastructure crumbling, with many roads in dire need of repair.
State television cited Moaz Najjar, director of road transport in Damascus, who said that authorities have designated road maintenance in the eastern region as a priority.
He added that most roads are in a state of disrepair and have not received maintenance for the past 15 years.
Last year, at least 12 people were killed and several others injured when a bus collided with an oil tanker in northeastern Syria.
However, Saturday’s accident ranks among the worst in recent years.
In 2020, at least 32 fatalities occurred when a fuel tanker crashed into two buses on a road between Damascus and Homs province.
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