MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. About 9,000 bus drivers of city and private transport operators were checked in Moscow following a bus crash on Kutuzovsky Prospekt which killed four people, Moscow Deputy Mayor Maksim Liksutov said on Tuesday at an emergency meeting of the Moscow government.
"All vehicles of Mosgortrans and private transport operators were checked overnight: about 8,000 buses, overall, as well as 9,000 drivers. All buses passed the inspection. The check was unscheduled and lasted until 5 a.m. Today we are conducting transportation services on a regular basis," he said.
Experts checked all systems and equipment affecting transportation safety: engines, transmission modules, brakes and other on-board systems, Liksutov said. The scheduled maintenance documents were also checked. The deputy mayor pointed out that special attention was paid to the drivers’ medical examination ahead of their working day.
The bus crash occurred on December 25 near the Moscow subway’s Slavyansky Bulvar station at about 14:50 Moscow time. A commuter bus ran into a crowded pedestrian underpass. According to Moscow’s Health Care Department, 11 people were injured and four killed in the crash. A criminal case was launched under two articles of the Russian Criminal Code: "Providing services that fail to meet safety requirements" and "Violation of the traffic code and vehicle operation rules;" the driver was arrested. The bus was carrying three passengers at the time of the accident.