Eight killed in Russian minibus crash

A minibus collided with a lorry on a road in central Russia, killing eight people and seriously injuring six others, reports said today.

The Gazel minibus was travelling fast when it hit the Kamaz lorry on a highway between the Mordovia region capital of Saransk and the Volga River city of Ulyanovsk on Saturday, reports said. Saransk is 310 miles southeast of Moscow.

Four people were dead at the scene and four died in the hospital, police told reporters. The dead included seven men and one woman.

Police did not say what caused the crash.

A spate of deadly accidents near involving Gazels earlier this year raised concerns about the safety of the Russian-made minibuses, which are widely used by private companies that run them along municipal and commuter bus routes as well as on intercity trips.