Russian charter bus collides with transit bus in Sweden, 60 injured

January 3, 2008

A Russian charter bus collided with a local transit bus near the town of Gagnef in Sweden. At least five passengers were seriously injured, with many others sustaining minor injuries. Rumours also stated that there had been one fatality, but the local authorities claimed that this information is incorrect.

The accident occurred on Highway 70 near Gagnef when a local transit bus was leaving a road-side bus stop and was hit by a chartered Russian bus. As a result of the collision the roof of the charter bus was partially sheared off. At the time of the accident the vehicles were carrying a total of about 60 persons, 20 of whom were children.

The accident occurred after midnight local time on January 3, 2008. The cause remains unclear. According to the officials the accident area had received a thick snow cover and the roads in the vicinity were icy.