News

The Mari-El Republic Office of the Investigative Committee continues an investigation in unsafe services causing multiple casualties under Part 3 of Article 238 of the RF Criminal Code.

The traffic accident involving a truck and a Mercedes Sprinter passenger minibus driven by a 41-year-old driver happened at about 5:30 PM on 16 November 2017 at kilometer marker 64 of the highway between Yoshkar-Ola and Kozmodemyansk.

According to preliminary data, the driver of the minibus with 18 passengers aboard went to the wrong side of the road when both weather and road situations were complicated. The minibus then hit the truck with the semitrailer and swerved into a ditch. 15 people were killed in the accident, 4 more, including 3 minors, suffered a range of injuries and were taken to hospital.

Investigators have ordered a forensic medical and technical examinations, and are working to find out all the circumstances surrounding the accident.

The regional investigative authority has taken over the case opened by the police in violation of the road code entailing death of two or more people under Part 5 of Article 264 of the RF Criminal Code. The cases are going to be joined together to form a single lawsuit.