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Catastrophe

Moscow bus plows into pedestrians, at least 4 dead

December 25, 2017

A Moscow bus has crashed into a pedestrian underpass near a metro station in the Russian capital. Police are investigating whether it was an accident or a deliberate attack.

https://p.dw.com/p/2pvio
Moscow bus rests on stairwell leading to underground passageway.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/TASS/M. Pochuyev

A Moscow city bus careened off the road and into a pedestrian underpass Monday, killing at least four people and injuring 15 more in the city center.

A video from the scene posted on the internet shows the bus plowing into people as they ascended the underpass.

"A bus drove into a pedestrian underpass," a traffic police spokesman, Artyom Kolesnikov, told AFP.

Police have detained the bus driver. The incident occurred shortly before 3 p.m. local time (1200 GMT/UTC) on one of Moscow's busiest streets near the Slavyansky Boulevard metro station.

Moscow bus, with front windshield smashed, rests on stairwell leading to underground passage way.
Moscow bus rests on stairwell leading to underground passage wayImage: picture alliance/dpa/TASS/M. Pochuyev

Monday is a regular work day in Russia as the Orthodox Christmas will be celebrated on January 7.

Police investigators are trying to determine whether the incident was a deliberate attack, human error or the result of a technical malfunction with the bus.

Emergency response teams swarmed the site, with 10 ambulances, fire service personnel, and three medivac helicopters on the scene, according to local news agencies.

"There are dead and wounded," tweeted Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin. "We are providing emergency aid," he said, offering condolences to families of the victims.

Sobyanin has also ordered that all city buses be inspected.

bik/msh  (Reuters, AFP, AP dpa)