At Least 35 Killed in Bus Crash in Yemen

At least 35 people were killed and seven others injured on Wednesday in a devastating road accident along a dangerous mountain route in Yemen’s southern province of Abyan, according to government officials and local sources.

Sana bin Dhiban, deputy head of the government’s Land Transport Authority in Aden, told Reuters that a passenger bus carrying dozens of travelers returning from Saudi Arabia collided with another vehicle in the mountainous Al-Arqoub area of Abyan. The crash left 35 passengers dead and seven others injured.

Local sources said the violent collision caused both the bus and the car to burst into flames, killing three people inside the smaller vehicle and charring most of the victims beyond recognition.

Only seven passengers managed to survive after breaking the bus windows and jumping out through the flames in a desperate attempt to escape the inferno that engulfed the vehicle within minutes.

Emergency teams were dispatched to the scene to provide medical assistance to the injured. Preliminary reports suggest that excessive speed and brake failure on both vehicles likely caused the drivers to lose control, resulting in a head-on collision.

Videos circulating on social media showed massive flames and thick smoke rising from the wreckage as the two vehicles burned.