PETROPAVLOVSK, January 11 (Itar-Tass) — A woman who was one of eleven people hit by a car at a bus stop in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky has died without regaining consciousness in the Kamchatka regional hospital.
The elderly woman had an open cranial and cerebral trauma. She was in a coma. The efforts to save her failed, hospital sources told Itar-Tass on Friday.
Other three of the eleven people remain in the hospital. They are in gradually improving condition. There is no threat to their lives. One of the patients who underwent treatment in the regional hospital has been discharged.
In the morning on December 24, sergeant Sergei Batenev, a contract serviceman, in a state of alcohol intoxication, lost control of his Toyota Chaser in a heavy snowfall, and the car hit people who were waiting for a bus. The bus stop was not cleared of snow, and the people, including a four-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl, were standing unprotected right at the side of the slippery road. Eight people with various injuries were hospitalized.
A criminal case is opened against the driver. An investigation into the case is underway. Batenev is not placed under arrest before the trial.
The Russian Investigative Committee's Kamchatka regional department has also opened a criminal case on charges of "taking no action to clear a public transport stop of snow". Officials of the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky administration and road services are accused of negligence.