24 confirmed dead in Israeli bus crash
24 people confirmed dead in Israeli bus crash
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Tuesday, 16, Dec 2008 11:00
Twenty-four people have been confirmed dead after a bus carrying Russian travel agents plunged into a ravine from what is considered a notoriously dangerous road in Israel's Negev desert.
Local media have reported that the bus flipped over several times as it tumbled 45ft on to a dry river bed in the Negev, a rocky desert that covers more than half of Israel's land mass.
A taxi driver travelling behind the bus on the road as it headed to the Red Sea resort of Eilat described how "the bodies of the passengers were hurled from the bus as it crashed down into the ravine".
"The driver of the bus tried to overtake another bus in a hairpin curve and lost control of his vehicle," he told an Israeli radio station.
Among the 33 injured, 23 were in a serious condition, the Magen David Adom rescue service said.
Traffic police commissioner Meir Or said the driver was injured in the crash and was being interrogated and that police were checking the vehicle's equipment to determine the speed he was travelling.
Army radio said the driver had previously been cited with 22 traffic violations.
Local media said the passengers were among 150 Russian travel agents who had just arrived for an information gathering trip to Eilat, which is bracing for an invasion of tourists seeking to get away from the harsh winter at home.
Air force helicopters and ambulances rushed the casualties to a hospital in Eilat, which received reinforcements from doctors and nurses attending a medical congress in Israel's southernmost city.
The health ministry ordered all medical personnel in Eilat to report to the hospital in order to help the casualties.
Those with serious injuries were transferred to other cities that have larger hospitals, while the bodies of the dead were being flown to Tel Aviv for identification.
The tourism ministry has set up a crisis centre manned with a Russian speakers to take calls from anxious relatives. Defence minister Ehud Barak said Israel was in contact with the Russian authorities to organise the return of the bodies.