Fourteen people were killed and another 14 received injuries when a bus collided with a truck in Russia's Siberian Tomsk region late on Sunday, sources from the regional centre of the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations told Itar-Tass on Monday.

The accident occurred on the Tomsk-Afino highway, about 45 kilometres away from Tomsk, at 9:52 pm local time. The driver of the bus tried to overtake a tractor and drove onto the lane with oncoming traffic, colliding with a KAMAZ truck. The impact was so powerful that both vehicles caught fire.

There were 28 occupants in the bus, including three children. It was heading for the Shira Lake. The drivers of the truck and the bus and bus passengers were killed in the crash. Three people were rushed to hospital in Tomsk. They were moderately injured.

Special headquarters have been set up at the local administration, led by Acting Governor of the Tomsk region Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn and Deputy Governor Vladimir Gonchar.

Source: Agencies