Red Cross: 9 Dead in Syrian Bus Crash in Kahhaleh

Nine people were killed and 29 injured on Friday in a Syrian bus crash in the town of Kahhaleh, east of Beirut, the Lebanese Red Cross said.

Paramedics transported 29 people to hospitals in the area, it said in a statement.

Eight bodies were also pulled from the bus, it said.

George Kettaneh, operations director for the Red Cross, said the dead included women and children.

The statement added that around 35 rescuers and 9 ambulances took part in the rescue mission.

The bus that was carrying Syrian nationals was heading to Beirut when it hit a concrete barrier, which separates the lanes on the main highway that links Beirut to Damascus, after the driver lost control on the vehicle. It then overturned.

The bus had Syrian license plates from the northeastern Hassakeh province.

The crash caused bumper-to-bumper traffic in the early morning rush hour. The queues of vehicles reached all the way to Araya and Aley.