Nineteen dead including two children and 21 injured as a bus skids off a Siberian bridge

Nineteen dead including two children and 21 injured as a bus skids off a Siberian bridge and plunges 22ft onto a frozen river

  • Total of 44 people were on bus when it careerd 22ft into Kuenga River, Siberia
  • Further 21 people were injured in the incident and had to be cut from the vehicle
  • Bus was travelling from Sretensk to Chita when it veered and overturned off road

Nineteen people including two small children were killed when a bus veered over the side of a bridge and overturned onto a frozen river in Russia today. 

A total of 43 passengers and the driver were on the bus when it careered 22ft into the Kuenga River in Transbaikal region of Siberia, 3,930 miles east of Moscow.

A further 21 people were injured in the incident and had to be cut out of the vehicle as it came to rest upside down on the thick ice.

Horrific pictures and video show the scene of the crash as frantic rescue efforts continued after dark on Sunday. 

The aftermath of the tragic incident where a bus with 43 passengers and a driver plunged 22ft the Kuenga River in Transbaikal region of Siberia, 3,930 miles east of Moscow 

Emergency services on the scene of the crash

Emergency services on the scene of the crash

Footage of the scene from the following morning shows blood-stained snow as the bus lies torn apart underneath the bridge.  

‘The bus was en route from Sretensk to Chita. It veered off the road and overturned some 60 km (37 miles) from Sretensk,’ said an emergencies ministry spokesman.

The river was shallow and its entire depth was frozen so it did not sink beneath the ice. 

One theory is that the Kia Grandbird bus suffered a burst tyre, another that it skidded on the bridge.

Two helicopters with rescuers and medical staff including a neurosurgeon, trauma doctor, and two anaesthetists was flown to the scene.

Those wounded were taken to local hospitals and the driver, named as Sergey Kubasov, 43, was killed in the accident. 

The overturned bus is torn apart after it careered from the bridge. One theory is that the Kia Grandbird bus suffered a burst tyre, another that it skidded on the bridge

The overturned bus is torn apart after it careered from the bridge. One theory is that the Kia Grandbird bus suffered a burst tyre, another that it skidded on the bridge

He had 20 years experience and was described in Russian media reports as ‘very careful’.

Nineteen people died and 21 received various injuries,’ said the office of regional governor Alexander Osipov who was heading to the scene.  

A criminal investigation into the accident has been launched.

Russia’s record on road safety is one of the worst in the world.

A total of 18,214 people died in road accidents last year, according to the country’s traffic police.

This compares to the 15,000 Red Army servicemen killed during the whole of the Soviet war in Afghanistan in 1979-1989.

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