At least 35 people have lost their lives and another 30 have been injured this Saturday in central Syria after a collision between two buses, one transporting civilians and the other belonging to the Syrian security forces, on the road connecting the city of Deir Ezzor with the capital, Damascus.
The accident occurred in the vicinity of the historic city of Palmyra and has triggered a large operation by the Ministry of Defense, which has deployed several helicopters in the area to evacuate the injured to the Military Hospital of Homs, according to the official Syrian news agency SANA.
The Health Directorate of Deir Ezzor has also announced the activation of its emergency plan following the incident, as well as the mobilization of medical and nursing personnel to assist the victims.
The Syrian Interior Minister, Anas Jatab, has expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased and has assured the opening of an investigation to clarify the causes of the event.
The road that connects Deir Ezzor and Damascus is known as the "Road of Death" due to the high accident rate recorded in recent years: it has a single lane in each direction without a median separating both flows of traffic and presents numerous potholes.
As local sources tell Syria TV, the inhabitants of the nearby towns have been demanding for years that the authorities (both the former regime of Bashar al Assad and the new government of former jihadist Ahmed Al Shara) implement an infrastructure plan to condition and make this road safer.