Deir Ezzor-Palmyra: Death Road in the heart of the desert

Deir Ezzor-Obadah al-Heikh

The Deir Ezzor-Palmyra Road has extended over 200 kilometers through the Syrian desert and has turned into a nightmare for travelers due to its poor condition and the disturbance of internet connectivity along its route.

This vital artery, which combines two old governors (Deir Ezzor and Homs), which was once a symbol of communication and trade, has been the “path of death” for years, which is threatening for travelers and claims their life in accidents that occur almost daily.

The road is narrow and hardly corresponds to a vehicle in every direction and makes it a constant location for dangerous encounters between cars and trucks. Attempts to overtake are disabled with danger, and the potholes that are scattered on the street create a catastrophic traffic environment.

Isolation in the heart of the desert

The communication disorder contributes to the suffering of travelers on the street Deir Ezzor-Palmyra, a problem that is no less serious and significant than the tightness of the streets. The almost complete shortage of cellular communication networks isolates travelers as soon as they get away from the two cities.

According to travelers who were interviewed by BaladiOn the street you cannot communicate with your loved ones to calm them down, nor can you call for help in an emergency, regardless of whether it is a breakdown of your vehicle or an accident.

This disturbance increases the feeling of travelers of impotence and loneliness in the event of an accident, with questions that are like what if the car breaks out in the middle of the desert or what if the bus has an accident?

The street connects from Deir Ezzor to Palmyra and then with Damascus and has recently experienced repeated accidents. Six civilians died, including four that were in a passenger bus, and two trucks loaded with sheep after a traffic accident, which took place near the village of Alloula on Deir Ezzor-Palmyra-Straße due to a direct collision between the bus and the truck on May 10.

The accident also led to the death of around 20 sheep and considerable material damage to both vehicles, according to the Syrian civil defense.

The civil defense mentioned that emergency and rescue teams in cooperation with the ambulance system in Deir Ezzor City reacted to the accident, where the corpses were brought to the national hospital to the victims for delivery.

Engineer Ahmed al-Ali, a resident of Deir Ezzor, believed that the current state of the street is a real burden for the locals. The tightness of the street and its inability to cope with increasing traffic makes it a hotspot for unfortunate accidents that claim innocent life.

Al-Ali told Baladi The expansion of the street is an urgent need to protect people and make their daily life easier, and calls on the responsible authorities to take immediate measures in order to carry out this important project and assign the necessary resources to ensure the quick conclusion. The security and comfort of the residents of the region deserve all efforts.

Plan to improve the street

On May 13, the Minister for Communication and Information Technology, AbdulsSalam Haykal, confirmed that the recurring disorders on the international Damascus-Deir Ezzor Road are tackled by urgent solutions until the infrastructure modernization project for communication is completed to fully ensure stable services.

Haykal added that “specialized technical teams were commissioned in order to improve service to improve the service and the installation of communication towers for Syriatel and MTN along Deir Ezzor-Damaskus-Straße within the administrative limits of Deir-Ezzor Province and at the same time, the cooperation with the corresponding authorities to protect the infrastructure Sabotage before Sabotia before the sabotage and the animals of the infraxes before Sabotia and Theft Theft.

In his part, he was the engineer Abdul Karim Khader, the director of the branch of the road traffic authority in Deir Ezzor, emphasized the strategic importance of Deir Ezzor-Palmyra-Damaskus-Straße and explained that it was the vital artery that combines the east of the country with its center and expanded regionally.

Khader mentioned Baladi That the authority has created a comprehensive plan for rehabilitation and development of the street by repairing the existing route, the traffic safety measures through the installation of signage and reflectors, the activation of traffic monitoring with cameras and patrols as well as the determination of emergency points and initial rest stations that activate traffic surveillance.

He added that there is a long -term strategic vision that includes the investigation of the construction of an alternative express road that leads to the Iraqi boundaries, absorbs the proposal for the railway line between Deir Ezzor and Damascus and promotes investments in the transport infrastructure.

Khader continued that combating the causes of accidents is to install intelligent cameras, the enforcement of traffic laws, the establishment of regular technical inspection centers, comprehensive campaigns to traffic awareness, the control of axial loads and dimensions of heavy vehicles by installing firm and mobile scales, which are imposed with a centrally electronic monitoring system.

Khader was of the opinion that these measures aim to make the street Deir Ezzor-Palmyra-Damascus safer and more efficient and to promote economic and social development in the region and Syria as a whole.