Bus plunges into ravine near Algiers, killing at least 25
A bus carrying passengers from Sétif plunged into a ravine near Algiers, killing at least 25 people and injuring 44 in a major crash.
A passenger bus plunged into a ravine near Algiers on Friday, killing at least 25 people and injuring 44 in a crash that quickly became one of Algeria’s deadliest recent road disasters. The bus was carrying passengers from Sétif to the capital when it skidded in El Karma, about 50 kilometers from Algiers, and dropped into a deep ravine.
The Algerian Civil Protection gave the initial toll as 25 dead and 44 injured. Xinhua said the crash happened at 9:41 a.m. local time, or 0841 GMT, on National Road No. 24 near the village of El Karma in Boumerdes province, about 55 kilometers east of Algiers, after the bus veered off the road, overturned and plunged down the embankment. Later wire updates put the death toll at at least 27, showing how quickly the numbers were changing as crews worked the wreckage.
The recovery operation reflected the terrain as much as the human toll. A social-media repost of Al Jazeera’s coverage said emergency services deployed 25 ambulances, 16 divers and four rescue boats to the scene, a response that underscored how difficult it can be to reach victims in a ravine crash. With dozens of injured passengers, hospitals in and around the capital would have faced immediate pressure to treat trauma cases while responders secured the site and recovered the dead.
The crash sharpened the questions that follow major bus disasters in Algeria: whether the vehicle was mechanically sound, whether the road was properly maintained, whether the driver lost control, and whether enforcement failures left passengers exposed. Public buses carry workers, students and families across long distances every day, making safety on roads like National Road No. 24 a public concern as well as a transport issue. Separate background reporting in 2025 described Algeria as facing a road safety crisis and higher road-accident figures, a pattern that has kept scrutiny on infrastructure and enforcement.
The latest fatality count also recalled an earlier disaster in southern Algeria, where Reuters reported on July 19, 2023, that 34 people were killed and 12 were seriously injured when a passenger bus collided with a commercial vehicle and burst into flames near Tamanrasset. Friday’s crash near El Karma pushed the country back into the same difficult reckoning: why routine travel on a public road can turn so quickly into a mass-casualty event.
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