Overview
- Two passenger buses collided on the Deir al-Zor–Damascus road on Saturday, killing at least 35 people and injuring about 30, state media and health officials said.
- One vehicle carried members of the Internal Security Forces and the other was a civilian passenger bus, mixing security personnel with civilians among the victims.
- Syrian military helicopters and ambulances were dispatched to the remote crash site and injured people were evacuated to Homs Military Hospital for treatment.
- Officials have not yet identified a cause for the collision and officials described the investigation as ongoing with details still developing.
- The highway is a long desert link between eastern Syria and Damascus that officials say suffers from poor safety and degraded infrastructure after years of war, a situation that could increase scrutiny of road maintenance and emergency response capacity.