News

Alexander Bastrykin has arrived in the city of Khanty-Mansiysk today and immediately set off for the scene of a bus traffic accident that claimed lives of 12 people. The Chairman of the Investigative Committee coordinated the actions of an investigative team working on scene. Investigators are collecting and documenting evidence that is vital for the investigation. A forensic vehicle examination will be run after the crime scene investigation has been finished and will help to find out if the vehicles involved in the accident were in good operating order at the moment of the collision.

The Chairman also held a meeting attended by senior officials of the Khanty-mansi Autonomous Area-Yugra office of the Investigative Committee and the investigative team that includes investigators and criminalists of the regional investigative authority, experienced specialists of the Investigative Committee’s Central Office and representatives of other law-enforcement agencies. The investigators reconstructed the accident site scheme and reproduced the model of the accident.

Judging by the timing of the events the picture is as follows: the bus with children was on its way back from competitions to the town of Nefteyugansk. Two heavy haulers were going in the opposite direction on their lane. At about 4 PM, local time, the first of the haulers caught tangentially the bus which was swung around by the hit and carried on the wrong lane in front of the second hauler. The investigators believe that the accident was triggered by mutual gross violation of the traffic code by the drivers of both the bus and the hauler. This is why their actions are now qualified as a crime under Part 5 of Article 264 of the RF Penal Code. The driver of the second hauler has been questioned as a witness. All three of the drivers have been tested for alcohol and found negative.

At the same time, the role of organizers of the children’s trip is being looked into. The investigators have discovered that the bus carrying the children is owned by a sole proprietor from Nefteyugansk, while his representative and officials of Sibiryak Sports School organized the trip. At the moment, the organizer of the trip is charged with unsafe services under part 3 of Article 238 of the RF Penal Code. All three men are now being interviewed. After that has been finished, the investigators will be asking courts about restraint. The investigators have finished identifying the bodies. 12 forensic medical inquiries have been run and a DNA and chemical ones are still in progress.

Having seen a plan for further actions, Mr. Bastrykin outlined a number of first-priority tasks and noted that following the probe legal evaluation should be given to not only the actions of the drivers involved in the accident, but the people involved in the organization of the competition.

Acting Head of Media Relations                                                                                                         S.L. Petrenko