At least two dozen Russian tour guides were killed and another two dozen injured Tuesday when a bus driving them from an Israeli airport to the southern resort of Eilat plunged down a ravine beside a narrow desert road. The guides, on a scouting tour of Israel, had left St. Petersburg in the morning. The driver of a second bus of Russian guides who witnessed the accident said the bus had just passed him and took a perilous curve too quickly, hit a guardrail and plunged. Israeli military helicopters took part in the rescue as did some 40 ambulances. A recent lifting of visa requirements for Russians visiting Israel has led tourism officials to expect tens of thousands of Russians this winter, many of them headed to the warmth of Eilat.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/world/middleeast/17briefs-RUSSIANSKILL_BRF.html?pagewanted=print

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