Damascus International Airport
On 21 January 1994, while he was driving his Mercedes at a high speed (author Paul Theroux reports ) through fog to Damascus International Airport for a flight to Frankfurt, Germany on his way to a ski vacation in the Alps in the early hours of the morning, Bassel collided with a barrier and, not wearing a seatbelt, died instantly. Hafez Makhlouf was with him and was hospitalized with injuries after the accident, and a chauffeur in the back seat was unhurt.