Today, 16 people were killed in a collision between a minibus and two trucks. Russian Ulyanovsk (in the Volga region), Russian news agencies report.

According to eyewitnesses cited by news agencies, the truck left the lane when it collided with a minibus driving in the opposite direction, near the village of Nikolaevka. At the time of the accident, the minibus was also hit from behind by another truck.

Footage shown by the Russian television company Ren TV shows the minibus almost being crushed by two trucks.

“According to preliminary data, the truck driver drove into the oncoming lane and collided with a minibus,” the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ulyanovsk Region said in a statement.

The accident killed 15 people, all citizens of Kazakhstan, rescue services reported, citing the Russian public agency RIA Novosti.

Three more people – two men and a woman – were hospitalized in serious condition, the governor of the Ulyanovsk region, Alexei Russkikh, wrote on Telegram.

Traffic violations are common in Russia, where there have been several fatal bus crashes in recent years.

In January, five people died and 21 were injured in a car accident in the Ryazan region, about 270 kilometers south of Moscow.

In December 2019, a bus carrying almost 40 passengers fell into a frozen river in the Trans-Baikal Territory of Siberia, killing 19 people and injuring 21.

^{Source: APE-MEB, AFP, Reuters.}