DAMASCUS: At least 35 people have been killed and dozens injured after two buses collided on a highway linking the Syrian capital with the eastern province of Deir el-Zour on Saturday, state media reported.

Around 30 people were injured in the crash between a civilian bus and an Interior Ministry bus on the desert highway, the SANA news agency cited a health ministry official as saying.

Syrian military helicopters were reported to be involved in the operation at the scene.

The cause of the collision was not immediately known.