12 die in Russian level crossing collision

A train ploughed into a bus at a level crossing in Russia’s western enclave of Kaliningrad today, killing 12 people and injuring 18.

Most of the bus passengers were elderly people travelling to their summer homes, said Emergency Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov. Nine of the passengers were killed on the spot, and three more died in hospital.

The collision occurred at a rail crossing near the village of Ovrazhnoye in the Kaliningrad region, about 703 miles west of Moscow.

The Russian Railways Ministry blamed the accident on the bus driver, saying he passed several vehicles that were waiting for the train to pass, and ran a red light at the crossing to drive onto the tracks,.

The ministry also said the driver, who survived the crash, had previously had his licence suspended for drunk driving, and was driving on a temporary permit Wednesday. The report could not be immediately confirmed.