Bus smashes into KamAZ truck in southern Kazakhstan; 5 dead, 26 injured

A passenger bus smashed into a KamAZ truck parked at the roadside in Zhambyl oblast in southern Kazakhstan killing 5 and injuring 26 people, Tengrinews.kz reports citing the press-service of Zhambyl oblast Interior Department. The accident happened at night of March 20 on kilometer 427 of Almaty-Tashkent road. The driver of MAN bus, driving from Almaty to Shymkent, lost control over the bus and crashed into a KamAZ loaded with rails that was parked at the road side. The bus had 46 passengers and 2 drivers onboard. According to Zhambyl Oblast's Department of Internal Affairs, 26 people were injured in the accident, they are now in the regional hospital. 5 people were killed - three of them on the spot and 2 died in the hospital. The police continues investigation into the accident. The bus driver has been apprehended by the police in Zhambyl oblast. He is currently in the temporary detention facility of Ryskulov region. A criminal case has been initiated against him. He is changed with "violation of traffic rules that caused deaths of two or more people." If he is proved guilty, he we face a prison term of 5 to 10 years. Here is a report of one of the witnesses of the accident site: "I was in a (different) bus driving along that road from Almaty to Shymkent. I was among those who helped the wounded and dieing. A small boy saw his grandmother die. Two of the people had their legs ripped right off. It was an utter horror. It was impossible to look at the site without tears. We were helping the emergency teams send people off to the hospital in cars driving by along that road before the ambulances could arrive."