Twenty five  Russian tourists were killed and scores injured after a tourist bus travelling on Road 12, the Ovda road north of Eilat crashed, plunging 70 meters from the road into a ravine. The tourists all tour operators  from St. Petersburg had just arrived on a direct charter flight that   landed at the nearby Ovda Airport  for a week's visit to Israel and were being transfrred to Eilat when the accident occurred.

Within minutes of the crash Magen David Adom received an emergency report and dispatched ambulances to the site. Helicopters airlifted the seriously injured to the Yoseftal Hospital in Eilat where doctors and nurses prepared for the mass casualties. The Health Ministry called on doctors and nurses vacationing in the Eilat area to immediately go to the hospital to assist in treating the injured. According to reports 32 injured passengers were taken to the hospital.Some were later transferred to hospitals elesewhere in the country.

A motorist who drove behind the bus told Israel Radio that the bus driver drove carelessly and was speeding, and attempted to overtake another bus en route before the crash occurred.

Paramedics and security forces who reached the site were confronted with a horrific scene, the bus which was torn into piece from the impact of the crash found bus passengers and their belongings scattered over a wide area . 12/16/08