Twenty-five people were killed on Friday in a “monstrous” head-on collision between a bus and a petrol tanker in south Russian Rostov region, prompting President Dmitry Medvedev to order the Interior Ministry to ensure road safety in the country.
The accident occurred when the tanker violating traffic rules entered the opposite lane and collided head-on with the Mercedes bus on Don Federal Highway near the regional capital Rostov-on-Don, located around 1,200 kilometres south of Moscow.
“The force of the impact was so great that the vehicles turned into piles of scrap, luckily the petrol tanker was empty and we are taking all the measures to prevent the ignition of fuel dripping from their tanks,” relief officials told Defence Ministry’s ‘Zvezda´ TV channel.
“The collision was of monstrous force,” they said.
Meanwhile, President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the Interior Minister and the police to ensure the road safety in the country and enforce discipline among the drivers.
“We cannot permit such huge losses on the roads,” Medvedev said in his televised remarks at the meeting of National Security Council.
Every year at least three thousand people are killed on Soviet-era narrow Don Federal Highway alone linking Moscow with the country’s Southern Sea ports and resorts.
{{/usCountry}}Every year at least three thousand people are killed on Soviet-era narrow Don Federal Highway alone linking Moscow with the country’s Southern Sea ports and resorts.
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