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Driver of bus that crashed in Ukraine taken to custody until investigation is over

Тhe Chernigov region investigation administration of the Ukrainian interior ministry opened a criminal case on charges of violations of traffic rules
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

KIEV, July 8 (Itar-Tass) —— The driver of the bus that got into a traffic accident killing 14 Russian nationals in Ukraine’s Chernigov region has been taken to custody, a spokesman for the Chernigov region interior department said on Sunday.

“The bus driver was detained and taken to a detention ward until the investigation is over,” the spokesman said. The second driver, who was off duty, was sent to Russia with a leg injury.

According to the spokesman, the Chernigov region investigation administration of the Ukrainian interior ministry opened a criminal case on charges of violations of traffic rules.

According to preliminary investigation results, the accident was caused by the so-called “human factor.” Meanwhile, according to Ukrainian media reports, eyewitnesses say the drivers had changed an hour before the accident. Both the driver and the eyewitnesses put the blame for the accident on the driver of a white foreign-made car which unexpectedly appeared just in front of the bus.

On Saturday, a bus with 41 Russian pilgrims heading from the town of Velikiye Luki in Russia’s Pskov region to Pochayev monastery in Ukraine got into a road accident near the settlement of Krasnoye in the Chernigov-Kiev highway. As many as 14 people died and 29 were injured in the accident.

Three of the injured are still at the city clinic in Chernigov. On Saturday, 25 injured Russians were taken to Moscow and Pskov by the Russian emergencies ministry’s planes. The bodies of those killed were taken to Pskov.