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Agence France Presse
July 13, 2013 Saturday 3:23 PM GMT
Eighteen killed after truck smashes into bus in Moscow region
MOSCOW, July 13 2013
At least 18 people were killed and 40 injured in a horrific traffic
accident outside Moscow Saturday when a gravel truck smashed into a
bus packed with passengers, officials said.
Television pictures showed the bus had been cut into two pieces and
turned into a tangle of black wreckage by the force of the crash, one
of the deadliest accidents around the Russian capital in recent years.
Police said it was thought to have occurred when the truck turned onto
a main road and ploughed into the bus.
The head of the capital's health department, Georgy Golukhov, told the
RIA Novosti news agency that injuries had been especially severe as
the bus passengers were also hit with the gravel the truck was
carrying.
The television pictures showed emergency workers shovelling through
the black gravel that had been showered over the road.
Moscow deputy mayor Pyotr Birukov said that the driver, a 46-year-old
Armenian, had been fined for traffic violations six times over the
last year.
The driver, who survived the crash, has been hospitalised and is being
interrogated by police, Birukov added.
Of the injured, around 25 are still hospitalised with 15 in a serious
condition and the other 10 with injuries of medium seriousness, the
RIA Novosti news agency said, quoting the health ministry.
Earlier death tolls rose rapidly after several injured victims died in hospital.
The Moscow authorities said that Monday would be a day of mourning in
the Moscow region for the victims of the crash.
The bus was travelling on a regular public transport route from
Podolsk to Zhokhovo in the Moscow region and was packed with some 60
passengers.
A huge traffic jam ensued as emergency services blocked off the road
with police handing out water to stranded drivers on a hot summer's
day.
Russia has one of the world's worst road safety records with some
25,000 people losing their lives in traffic accidents every year,
although the government is seeking to improve the situation with tough
measures including a zero tolerance ban on drink driving.
From: A. Papazian
July 13, 2013 Saturday 3:23 PM GMT
Eighteen killed after truck smashes into bus in Moscow region
MOSCOW, July 13 2013
At least 18 people were killed and 40 injured in a horrific traffic
accident outside Moscow Saturday when a gravel truck smashed into a
bus packed with passengers, officials said.
Television pictures showed the bus had been cut into two pieces and
turned into a tangle of black wreckage by the force of the crash, one
of the deadliest accidents around the Russian capital in recent years.
Police said it was thought to have occurred when the truck turned onto
a main road and ploughed into the bus.
The head of the capital's health department, Georgy Golukhov, told the
RIA Novosti news agency that injuries had been especially severe as
the bus passengers were also hit with the gravel the truck was
carrying.
The television pictures showed emergency workers shovelling through
the black gravel that had been showered over the road.
Moscow deputy mayor Pyotr Birukov said that the driver, a 46-year-old
Armenian, had been fined for traffic violations six times over the
last year.
The driver, who survived the crash, has been hospitalised and is being
interrogated by police, Birukov added.
Of the injured, around 25 are still hospitalised with 15 in a serious
condition and the other 10 with injuries of medium seriousness, the
RIA Novosti news agency said, quoting the health ministry.
Earlier death tolls rose rapidly after several injured victims died in hospital.
The Moscow authorities said that Monday would be a day of mourning in
the Moscow region for the victims of the crash.
The bus was travelling on a regular public transport route from
Podolsk to Zhokhovo in the Moscow region and was packed with some 60
passengers.
A huge traffic jam ensued as emergency services blocked off the road
with police handing out water to stranded drivers on a hot summer's
day.
Russia has one of the world's worst road safety records with some
25,000 people losing their lives in traffic accidents every year,
although the government is seeking to improve the situation with tough
measures including a zero tolerance ban on drink driving.
From: A. Papazian