The Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area-Yugra Office of the Investigative Committee has opened an investigation in crimes under Part 5 of Article 264 and part 3 of Article 238 of the RF Penal Code (violation of traffic code entailing by negligence death of two or more people; provision of services that do not meet safety standards). Criminalists of the Forensics Directorate of the Investigative Committee who have experience in such investigations have taken off for the scene following an order of the Investigative Committee’s Chairman Alexander Bastrykin.
According to preliminary information, a traffic accident involving a truck, two cars and a coach travelling from the city of Khanty-mansiysk with 32 passengers aboard, including 29 children, happened today around 4 PM, local time, on the motorway linking Khanty-Masiysk and the city of Tyumen at kilometer marker 926. 11 people died on the scene, including 9 children, 21 more were taken to hospitals with injuries. The exact number of the affected is being checked.
Senior officers of the regional office of the Investigative Committee, as well as the most experienced investigators and criminalists have taken off for the scene and are already working there. By now the investigators believe that the driver of the coach lost control of the vehicle and caused the accident. Nevertheless, during the probe the investigators are going to restore the impartial picture of the accident and to check all the circumstances surrounding it, including bad visibility and adverse weather conditions. However, by now the investigators know that the transportation of the children had not been made in a proper way and the vehicle was travelling without escort required for such cases.
The investigation is ongoing.
Acting Head of Media Relations S.L. Petrenko
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