A total of 19 people including two small children were killed when a bus crashed over the side of a bridge and overturned onto a frozen river in Russia today.
Another 21 people were injured in the incident and had to be cut out of the vehicle as it came to rest upside down on the thick ice.
Horrific pictures and video show the scene of the crash as frantic rescue efforts continued after dark on Sunday.
A total of 43 passengers and the driver were on the bus when it careered 22ft over into the Kuenga River in the Transbaikal region of Siberia, 3,930 miles east of Moscow.
The river was shallow and was entirely frozen so the bus did not sink beneath the ice.
“The bus was en route from Sretensk to Chita. It veered off the road and overturned some 60 km (37 miles) from Sretensk," said an emergencies ministry spokesman.
One theory is that the Kia Grandbird bus suffered a burst tyre, another that it skidded on the bridge.
Two helicopters with rescuers and medical staff including a neurosurgeon, trauma doctor and two anaesthetists were flown to the scene.
The wounded were taken to local hospitals.
The driver, killed in the accident, was named as Sergey Kubasov, 43.
He had 20 years experience and was described in Russian media reports as “very careful”.
"Nineteen people died and 21 received various injuries," said the office of regional governor Alexander Osipov who was heading to the scene.
A criminal investigation into the accident has been launched.
Russia's record on road safety is one of the worst in the world.
A total of 18,214 people died in road accidents last year, according to the country’s traffic police.
This compares to the 15,000 Red Army servicemen killed during the whole of the Soviet war in Afghanistan in 1979-1989.
