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Driver who struck 11 people at bus stop not placed under arrest

One woman remains in a coma

MOSCOW, December 29 (Itar-Tass) — A court in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky dismissed the investigators' demand to take into custody contract-service sergeant Sergei Batenev who was at the wheel of the car that struck eleven people at a bus stop.

The 35th garrison military court dismissed the appeal, leaving Batenev free for the investigation period.

The defendant and his attorney in the court asked not to place him under arrest. A prosecution representative who participated in the court meeting took the side of the defence.

The defendant has given a written undertaking not to leave.

The investigators study the possibility to appeal against the court decision.

On December 24, the sergeant in a heavy snowfall lost control of the car, and it struck eleven people, including two children, who were standing at a bus stop. Four of the people, including a four-year-old child, were seriously injured. They are in hospital. One woman remains in a coma.

Medical tests detected alcohol in the serviceman's blood.

A criminal case is opened against Batenev on charges of violation of the traffic regulations, driving in a drunken state, causing serious harm to human health.