If every time an aircraft had a TCAS TA or, more pertinently, an RA, it was to make the news, the media would be full of the stuff, and you can't really blame it on the locale either, coz I've had'em in the UK, Spain, France, etc...
Imho, such an event is actually more likely a result of excessive V/S during the climb / descent, and is something which is a particular problem in the lower levels because, A). the aircraft has a lot more grunt in the nice dense air, and B). aircraft converging on airfields tend to make the sky seem more crowded.
Accordingly (again, imho), V/S is a valid mode for any level change when the aircraft is exhibiting large rates (+3000'/minute) of climb - but you'd be amazed how many folks blindly press LVL-CHG or VNAV and quite happily sit there (particularly in a twin jet aircraft, when it's light) with the VSI indicating daft rates of up - and they then wonder why the TCAS starts shouting at them, as they converge with another aircraft !
Ok, it might be fair comment that some areas of the world are more vulnerable to this (e.g. some of the uncontrolled eastern Mediterranean airports) but as pilots we counter that with the knowledge that it's very much us who are the final arbiters of our fate in such environs, and we (by necessity) then exhibit just that bit more vigilance / airmanship than per normal - which if this story is true, rather sounds like what they did.