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Putin sympathizes with relatives of people killed in two major road accidents in Russia

According to the latest reports, 11 people died when a bus collided with a truck near the town of Krasnoyarsk in Siberia and another 11 — in Chechnya where a bus fell into an abyss

MOSCOW, July 22 /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has held telephone conversations with the heads of Russia’s Krasnoyarsk territory and the Chechen Republic, Viktor Tolokonsky and Ramzan Kadyrov, to discuss the consequences of two tragic road accidents.

"The Russian head of state presented his profound condolences to the families and relatives of people who died in the tragic road accidents," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

"Putin heard the reports of the regional heads about measures, which are being taken to help the families of the dead and injured," Peskov went on to say.

He noted the president had instructed Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova to create necessary conditions at the regional and even federal level, if necessary, to give proper medical assistance to the injured.

"The president ordered Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev to take measures to investigate the causes of the two accidents and increase safety on Russian roads," Peskov said.

According to the latest reports, 43 people were hurt when a bus collided with a truck near the town of Krasnoyarsk in Siberia. Three people were seriously injured; two of them are staying in an intensive care ward; another two passengers are suffering from injuries of medium degree of gravity, the press service of the Krasnoyarsk regional government said.

The overall death toll from the road accident that occurred near Shishkovo village on the Sharypovo-Krasnoyarsk federal highway at 08:47 local time (04:47 Moscow time) has reached 11. The bus collided with a truck, which went on fire. The flames partly jumped on the passenger bus.

The accident in the Vedensky district of Chechnya where a bus fell into an abyss claimed the lives of 11 people, a source at the region’s emergency services told TASS. Another six people were injured and taken to hospital.

Earlier, Chechnya’s head Ramzan Kadyrov said that residents of the Dagestani village of Andi had been in the van.