Two dead, 17 injured after explosion on Russian bus

By : AFP

Date: 13 August 2021 9:59am WAT

This handout picture taken and released on August 13, 2021 by the Investigative Committee of Russia shows investigators as they work at a site of a bus explosion in the town of Voronezh. - A woman died and at least seventeen people were injured in an explosion on a bus in Voronezh, local authorities reported overnight Thursday on Friday. (Photo by Handout / RUSSIAN INVESTIGATIVE COMMITEE / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / RUSSIAN INVESTIGATIVE COMMITEE/HANDOUT" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Two women have died following an explosion on a bus in western Russia that also left 17 people injured, local authorities said on Friday.

The explosion went off overnight Thursday when the bus carrying 35 passengers was at a stop near a shopping centre.

“The number of injured has risen to 19,” the governor of Voronezh region Alexander Gusev said Friday on his Telegram channel.

One woman died shortly after the explosion and another passed away in hospital on Friday morning, according to Gusev.

Several of the wounded remain in serious condition, the governor said.

Video taken by passersby and posted on social media showed that the blast tore the roof off the vehicle and blew out its windows.

The Voronezh branch of the Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said Friday that it had opened a negligence case over the upkeep of the bus.

It added that experts from Moscow have been sent to Voronezh to help establish the circumstances of the explosion.

Voronezh deputy governor Sergei Sokolov had earlier told the Interfax news agency that there was “nothing to indicate that this was a terrorist attack”.

Road accidents are frequent in Russia due to the poor state of road infrastructure and a relaxed attitude towards rules of the road, particularly driving under the influence.