11 killed in bus crash on Trans-Caucasian Highway
14:10, 19 July 2010
VLADIKAVKAZ. July 19. KAZINFORM - According to fresh reports, 11 people were killed as a bus en route from Tskhinvali to Vladikavkaz fell down into a gorge from the Trans-Caucasian Highway on Sunday, the North Ossetian Emergency Situations Ministry said. Earlier reports put the death toll at 12. Kazinform refers to Itar-tass.
Nine injured passengers are in hospitals, seven of them are in a grave condition, the ministry reported. All passengers of the ill-fated bus are citizens of the Russian Federation. There are construction workers from Chechnya and Dagestan and two children, aged three and ten, among the casualties.
North Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity has issued instructions to grant pecuniary aid to the families of those killed and injured in the bus accident.
In all, the bus had 25 people onboard. See www.itar-tass.com for details.