At least 35 people were killed and 30 others injured Saturday when two passenger buses collided head-on on a highway linking eastern Syria with Damascus, in one of the country's deadliest road accidents in recent years, Syrian state media reported.
The crash occurred on the Deir al-Zor-Damascus highway between the towns of Al-Sukhnah and Palmyra, a key route connecting Syria's eastern provinces with the capital and other major population centers. The Health Ministry confirmed the death toll to state news agency SANA.
According to the Interior Ministry, one of the buses was carrying members of the Internal Security Forces, while the other was transporting civilian passengers. Authorities have not yet disclosed what caused the collision, and an investigation is underway.
Emergency crews, ambulances and Syrian Civil Defence teams rushed to the scene, where firefighters extinguished a blaze that erupted after the crash and medics treated survivors before transferring them to nearby hospitals.
The Defense Ministry deployed military helicopters to evacuate the injured and recover the victims' bodies. The casualties were airlifted from Palmyra airport to a military hospital in Homs for treatment and further procedures.
