Six people were killed and up to 20 were injured after a passenger bus collided with a truck on a highway in Russia’s southern Krasnodar Region early on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry’s local department said, TASS reports.
The passenger bus collided with a truck parked on a roadside of the M-4 Don highway killing six people and injuring more than 20, who were rushed to local hospitals. “Three people, including the bus driver, were killed on the scene, two more died on the way to hospitals, and another victim passed away in an emergency room,” Spokesperson Maria Pirogova told TASS.
There were a total of 26 people riding in the bus and 18 of them are now in regional hospitals, the Interior Ministry’s department stated.
The accident occurred near the hamlet of Molkino. The bus was headed from the country’s southern resort city of Adler to Nizhny Novgorod. According to preliminary reports, the driver of the bus may have fallen asleep before ramming into the truck.
The Interior Ministry’s department in the Krasnodar Region said the bus was carrying religious sojourners traveling from Abkhazia to Nizhny Novgorod, in the Volga Federal District. Earlier reports said the trip had been organized by the eparchy of the Nizhny Novgorod Region.
According to the website of the eparchy’s pilgrim center, the tour to Abkhazia was arranged on September 16-27. The journey takes 33 hours and covers 1,900 kilometers.
