Children die as bus crashes in Russia
February 3, 2019
At least seven people, including four children, died in a bus crash in Russia's Kaluga region on Sunday, with over 30 people hospitalized after the incident. Most of the injured were children, authorities said.
Footage from the scene showed the bus lying on its roof in a snow-covered ditch and rescuers using stretchers to transport the injured from the wreck.
Authorities said that 45 people, including 31 children, were aboard the bus when it swerved off the road and rolled over. Dozens of people had been trapped in the wreck, with rescue teams mounting an hours-long operation to pull them out.
The crash took place on a local road some 190 kilometers (118 miles) southwest of Moscow, as the bus was transporting members of a children's dance club from the town of Yartsevo to a competition in the nearby city of Kaluga.
"Children were traveling together with their parents," Yartsevo mayor, Vladimir Makarov, told the Russian Interfax news agency.
No other vehicle was involved in the crash. Initially, authorities cited icy roads as a possible cause of the accident. In the hours after the incident, however, police detained the bus driver and the country's Interior Ministry said a criminal probe has been opened against him.
dj/jlw (AP, Interfax, AP)