Syria bus crash kills 35 on Damascus-Deir Ezzor highway
At least 35 people died and 30 were injured when two passenger buses collided on a desert highway in central-eastern Syria, highlighting the country's deteriorating road infrastructure after years of conflict and neglect.
Syria bus crash kills 35 on Damascus-Deir Ezzor highway
A collision between two passenger buses on Saturday killed at least 35 people on a major highway in central-eastern Syria, in one of the country's deadliest road accidents in recent years.
The crash occurred on the Damascus-Deir Ezzor road, a roughly 450-kilometer route that traverses Syrian desert terrain. One bus was carrying internal security forces personnel—Syria's national police service responsible for law enforcement and traffic control—while the other transported civilian passengers, according to the interior ministry. Thirty others were injured in the collision.
State broadcaster SANA aired footage showing one bus engulfed in flames with debris scattered across the highway. Military helicopters were deployed to evacuate casualties from the remote crash site.
Emergency and disaster management minister Raed Al Saleh described the incident as among the most devastating road accidents Syria has experienced in recent years based on casualty figures. He called for urgent action to prevent similar tragedies, emphasizing the need to address accumulated challenges facing the country's road infrastructure, which has suffered from years of neglect and damage to public service sectors.
Systemic infrastructure crisis
The accident underscores Syria's deepening infrastructure crisis. A World Bank assessment found that primary and trunk roads have sustained approximately 30 percent damage across their total lengths, while half of the country's overall infrastructure has been destroyed or rendered dysfunctional due to conflict, according to a February 2025 United Nations Development Programme report.
Road hazards have become endemic, characterized by sudden potholes, lack of street lighting, poor maintenance, and the absence of guardrails at dangerous turns. Highway conditions present particularly acute risks for travelers.
Damascus road transport director Moaz Najjar acknowledged that most roads remain in disrepair, with some lacking maintenance for the past 15 years. Authorities have now prioritized road maintenance in the eastern region, he stated.
Syria's road safety problems predate the civil war—in 2008, traffic accidents killed approximately 2,500 people, with 446 deaths attributed to existing road damage. However, the conflict has dramatically worsened conditions. The country's economic collapse, with GDP per capita plummeting from around $1,550 in 2011 to $670 in 2022, has severely constrained the government's ability to maintain infrastructure.
Reconstruction costs are estimated at $216 billion, with infrastructure accounting for 48 percent of the $108 billion in direct physical damages, according to an October 2025 World Bank report.
Persistent road safety crisis
Traffic accidents have become alarmingly frequent across Syria. Syrian Ministry of Interior statistics for the first quarter of 2024 recorded 1,442 traffic accidents resulting in 85 deaths and 1,232 injuries nationwide.
Earlier this month, five people died and dozens were injured when a bus carrying Lebanese pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia overturned on a highway in Daraa province in southern Syria.
Previous major accidents include a 2020 crash in which at least 32 people perished when a fuel tanker struck two buses on the Damascus-Homs road. Last year, a collision between a bus and an oil tanker in northeastern Syria killed at least 12 people.
Saturday's death toll represents one of the highest casualty counts from a single traffic incident in the country in recent years, reinforcing calls for comprehensive infrastructure investment and road safety reforms.
