Russian survivors flock to bus crash site

EILAT, Israel, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Two Russian planes carrying medics and relatives of bus crash victims arrived in Israel Wednesday after 24 Russians died in a tour bus mishap, officials said.

Survivors of those who were killed and relatives of the 36 people injured in the Tuesday incident arrived in Eilat, Israel, from Russia, home of the travel agents who were killed and injured when their bus overturned and rolled into a ravine -- the deadliest traffic accident in Israel's history, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Israeli defense officials told the newspaper that an Israel Air Force plane will fly the dead and wounded back to Russia.

There were disagreements over what led up to the accident, in which the bus plunged off the road while trying to pass a second bus, also full of Russian tourists. Israeli Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz Wednesday repeated his assertion that the two drivers had argued, leading them to try to compete against each other along the route, the Post said.

But police investigator Chief Superintendent Noam Bigianski told Israel Radio he wasn't aware of suspicions of a race between the drivers, while the surviving driver has denied it.