ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Survivors of a deadly collision between two buses - one carrying security forces, the other civilians - have recounted the moment the crash occurred.
The collision took place Saturday on the highway linking Deir ez-Zor and Damascus, a stretch locally known as the "road of death" due to its frequent, high-fatality crashes. Initial figures put the death toll at 35, with at least 30 others injured.
"We saw bodies thrown onto the road. There was someone with half a head, people who were completely mutilated, and another body that was charred. I also saw a woman whose skin had peeled off. Truly, the scenes were heartbreaking," al-Haris, a survivor of the crash, told Rudaw's Solin Mohammadamin.
Ali Shamar, an injured member of the security forces, said the collision was the last thing he remembered before passing out.
"I was inside the bus heading from Deir ez-Zor toward Damascus. Suddenly, the two buses collided. That is all I remember, nothing else," he recounted.
Farhan Mohammed was searching for two family members who were aboard one of the buses and remained unaccounted for.
"We don't know if he is here at the hospital in Homs or somewhere else. We came straight from Deir ez-Zor to Tadmur [Palmyra], where they told us they were sent to Homs. Now we are here in front of the hospital in Homs, and he isn't here as well," he said.
Following the crash, the Syrian government declared two days of national mourning and suspended all public celebrations and festivities.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who was in Damascus on a landmark visit, expressed his grief over the tragedy. Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani also posted a message of condolence.
Yahya al-Alawi, a physician and director of Ibn al-Walid Hospital in the western province of Homs, said 17 patients were admitted to the facility, all in stable condition.
"Two dislocated shoulders and three bone injury cases only. Their condition is now stable. They will remain under medical supervision tonight, receiving full treatment and continuous care from specialist doctors. All of them will be discharged from the hospital after 24 hours," he noted.
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