MOSCOW — At least 12 people, including nine members of a children's acrobatics team, have been killed in a road collision in eastern Siberia, officials said.

The interior ministry in Russia's Khanty-Mansiysk district said the crash happened late Sunday afternoon on a highway linking two Siberian oil towns. Early reports indicate the driver of the bus carrying the acrobatics squad lost control and collided with a truck in the incoming lane, killing at least 12 people and injuring 20 more.

The governor's office said the bus was taking the children back to their hometown after a competition in the regional capital.

The Investigative Committee would not immediate name a cause for the crash, but said it was looking at different factors including low visibility and bad weather conditions. Temperatures were around -17 Celsius (1.4 Fahrenheit) Sunday evening and there were reports of a blizzard.

The Interfax news agency quoted a local police spokeswoman as saying the drivers of both vehicles, who are now in the hospital, have tested negative for alcohol. </s> Russian officials say at least 14 people have been killed after a bus caught fire following a nighttime collision with a truck that was being towed and six other people have been killed in separate road accidents. The bus crash took place early today in Russia's central Tatarstan Republic.

Start the conversation, or Read more at India.com. </s> A Russian city is in mourning after a traffic accident killed 12 people, including 10 members of a children's acrobatics team.

Police say at least 19 other people were injured when a bus carrying 34 passengers, including 27 children, collided with a truck and two other vehicles on a road in northwestern Siberia on December 4.

The children were returning to their hometown of Nefteyugansk from a competition in the city of Khanty-Mansiisk.

On December 5, authorities in Nefteyugansk announced a three-day mourning period

Russia's Investigative Committee said an investigation was launched on suspicion of "violation of traffic regulations leading to multiple deaths."

It said requests for arrest warrants for the drivers of the bus and the truck had been filed with prosecutors. Both drivers survived.

President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to the families of the victims on December 4.

Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax </s> Russian officials say at least 14 people have been killed after a bus caught fire following a nighttime collision with a truck that was being towed and six other people have been killed in separate road accidents.

The bus crash took place early Sunday in Russia's central Tatarstan Republic. Footage from the scene showed the burnt-out shell of the bus. Russian investigators said a criminal case has been opened.

In other deadly road accidents, four people died early Sunday after a car hit a tree near the city of Nizhny Novgorod, east of Moscow, and two teenagers were killed late Saturday when a truck plowed into a bus stop in the western Russian city of Bryansk.

Russia has a poor road safety record with over 20,000 official traffic fatalities last year. </s> MOSCOW (AP) — Russian officials say at least eight people, including five members of a children’s acrobatics team, have been killed in a road collision in eastern Siberia.

The interior ministry in the Khanty-Mansiysk district said in a statement Sunday that the crash happened on a highway linking two Siberian oil towns. The officials quoted early reports that the driver of the bus carrying the acrobatics squad lost control and collided with a truck in the incoming lane.

The governor’s office said the bus was taking the children back to their hometown from a competition in the regional capital.

Temperatures in the area are around -17 C (1.4 F). It wasn’t immediately clear whether the weather conditions contributed to the collision. </s> At least 14 people, including four children, were killed and 15 injured when a bus collided with a truck towing another vehicle, with all three overturning and catching fire in the Russian Republic of Tatarstan.

The incident occurred near the city of Zainsk, some 300km east of the republic’s capital, Kazan, on Saturday night. A passenger bus collided with a moving a KAMAZ vehicle which was towing a MAN truck.

The bus was traveling from the city of Samara to Izhevsk with 28 passengers on board, Tatarstan’s Prime Minister Aleksey Pesoshin said in a statement, confirming that 14 people were killed. At least five of those injured are in a serious condition, he added.

At least four children are among those killed in the tragedy, Elvira Gazizova from a local branch of Russia’s Investigative Committee, told RIA Novosti. The youngest was nearly a year old (born in 2016), she added.

After the collision the bus overturned and caught fire. The blaze spread in the bus in a few seconds, RIA Novosti cited local police.

“I heard people shouting: ‘Get out’... I got through [the bus] and [finally] I was pulled out. I saw the bus getting more on fire and we ran. Suddenly an explosion rocked [the area],” a passenger from the bus, Aleksandra Samoleonne, told Channel One Russia.

Another passenger, Maria Novoselova, said she was sleeping when the accident took place.

“I wanted to escape via the right side of the bus, but it was in flames,” she said, adding that she eventually escaped via an emergency exit.

The Investigative Committee is looking into three possible causes of the accident: the bus driver may have been blinded by headlights, have fallen asleep at the wheel or failed to control the bus as he attempted to overtake the truck, Russia’s RIA Novosti reported.

The driver of the MAN truck is being questioned, local police said. The two other drivers, of the bus and KAMAZ vehicle, are currently in hospital and will be questioned later, they added. </s> MOSCOW (AP) - Russian officials say at least 14 people have been killed after a bus caught fire following a nighttime collision with a truck that was being towed and six other people have been killed in separate road accidents.

The bus crash took place early Sunday in Russia's central Tatarstan Republic. Footage from the scene showed the burnt-out shell of the bus. Russian investigators said a criminal case has been opened.

In other deadly road accidents, four people died early Sunday after a car hit a tree near the city of Nizhny Novgorod, east of Moscow, and two teenagers were killed late Saturday when a truck plowed into a bus stop in the western Russian city of Bryansk.

This photo of the wreckage of burned passenger bus was provided by Russia Emergency Situations Ministry press service on Sunday, July 2, 2017. More then a dozen people have been killed in Russia after a bus caught fire following a nighttime collision with a truck that was being towed in the Tatarstan Republic and six other people have been killed in separate road accidents. (Ministry of Emergency Situations press service photo via AP)

Russia has a poor road safety record with over 20,000 official traffic fatalities last year.

This photo of the wreckage of burned passenger bus was provided by Russia Emergency Situations Ministry press service on Sunday, July 2, 2017. More then a dozen people have been killed in Russia after a bus caught fire following a nighttime collision with a truck that was being towed in the Tatarstan Republic and six other people have been killed in separate road accidents. (Ministry of Emergency Situations press service photo via AP) </s> At least 13 passengers have been killed in a head-on bus collision some 170 kilometers north of Moscow on Friday.

A Ford Transit wagon carrying 14 passengers from the city of Tver to a nearby town drove into the oncoming lane and hit a public transportation bus at around 8 a.m. Moscow time, the state-run TASS news agency cited the Ministry of Emergency Situations as saying.

All but one of the minibus passengers were immediately killed in the head-on collision, with one 19-year-old passenger hospitalized in serious but stable condition.

The bus driver and its only passenger are being treated for various injuries.

Investigators have opened a criminal case into the violation of safety requirements that resulted in multiple deaths.



More than 19,000 people died in traffic accidents in Russia last year, according to an online service that tracks the incidents.

Reuters contributed reporting to this article. </s> 20 dead in road accidents in Russia; 14 as bus catches fire
At least 12 people, including 10 children, are killed in a bus crash in Siberia, Russia.