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BEN GURION AIRPORT, Israel, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Relatives of Russian tourists injured in a bus crash arrived in Israel on Wednesday as officials prepared to fly the bodies of the 24 who died back to St. Petersburg.

The 49 Russians, part of a group of tour operators, had been in Israel only a few hours on Tuesday for a training trip when their bus travelling from Ovda airport veered off a desert road near the Red Sea resort city of Eilat and plunged down a ravine.

The bodies of the dead will be flown back to St. Petersburg on Thursday, the Israeli Magen David Adom ambulance service said.

The 25 Russian survivors suffered varying degrees of injury and received treatment in hospitals throughout Israel on Wednesday. The crash was the worst in Israel for years, police said. It drew condemnation from politicians and road safety activists who said more should be done to combat the high death toll on roads. Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz said the crash occurred as the Israeli driver, who was injured but was being questioned by police, tried to overtake another bus.

An Israeli police officer told Israel Radio that the investigation was in its initial stages and no conclusions had yet been drawn about the cause of the accident.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the investigation was focusing on whether the bus driver lost control of his vehicle.

Israel is a favourite destination for Russian tourists. Some 230,000 Russians visited the country in the first nine months of 2008 and the tourism ministry expects the number to rise to 400,000 in 2009. (Writing by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

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