Eight killed in Russian bus crash

Eight people were killed and nine others seriously injured when a bus smashed into an oncoming truck in Russia's Western Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk, news agencies reported on Wednesday.

Eight people were killed and nine others seriously injured when a bus smashed into an oncoming truck in Russia's Western Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk, news agencies reported on Wednesday.

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The accident occurred late on Tuesday when the bus driver swerved onto the oncoming traffic while travelling between the Siberian cities of Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk, Channel One television said.

Investigators said that the accident may have been caused by a technical malfunction on the bus that resulted from the cold weather, with temperatures dropping to minus 50 degrees Celsius (minus 45 degrees Fahrenheit) in the region overnight.

Russia currently has the highest road accident mortality rate in Europe, with about 30,000 deaths reported every year.