At least six killed as bus carrying children plunges into river in north-western Syria

Civil defence group begins search of area

A bus carrying children on a school trip plunged into the Orontes river in north-western Syria on Thursday. AFP

At least six people died when a bus carrying children on a school trip left the road and plunged into the Orontes river in north-western Syria on Thursday, the rescue group White Helmets said.

A number of people were also injured in the accident that occurred in the Ayoun Ara area west of Idlib governorate, the group said on social media site X.

Search and rescue operations are continuing at the site, it said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the bus to go off the road. Images from the scene showed a steep crag overlooking the riverbed where searchers were scrambling over boulders.

It was the latest tragedy to affect an area that has already been hit hard by Syria’s continuing civil war and by a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Turkey and northern Syria last year.

Most of the 5.1 million people living in opposition-held north-west Syria have been internally displaced, sometimes more than once, in the country’s civil war, now in its 14th year, and rely on aid to survive.