Tunisia Bus Accident Death Toll Rises to 26

Varieties

December 2nd, 7:22am

Asharq Al-Awsat

A police investigator stands by a regional bus that crashed off a hill Sunday Dec.1, 2019 in Tunisia. (AP Photo/Riadh Dridi)

At least 26 people were killed when their bus careered into a ravine in the northwest of Tunisia, officials said in a new toll. The health ministry said late Sunday that 17 people were also injured in the accident in a mountainous region popular with Tunisian tourists. All those aboard the bus were Tunisian, the ministry said.  The bus had set off from Tunis towards the picturesque northern mountain town of Ain Draham, a popular autumn destination for domestic visitors. The interior ministry had earlier reported the deaths of 22 out of the 43 people aboard, saying the bus had "fallen into a ravine after crashing through an iron barrier". The health ministry said later that four more passengers had died of their injuries. An AFP team that visited the site saw the twisted remains of the bus in the ravine near a river bed, surrounded by scattered bodies. The top of the bus appeared to have been torn off and seats were strewn across the site. President Kais Saied and outgoing Prime Minister Youssef Chahed later visited the site. It was not immediately clear what caused the accident and forensic experts are investigating.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2017186/tunisia-bus-accident-death-toll-rises-26