A criminal case has been opened against a driver of the bus which overturned in Chernihiv region, killing 14 and injuring 29 citizens of Russia.
The criminal case was opened against the driver under part 3 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code (violation of the traffic rules or transport operation rules by a driver, which resulted in the deaths of several people), which envisages the punishment of imprisonment from five to ten years with the revocation of driving license, Interfax-Ukraine learned at the public relations department of Chernihiv regional police on Monday.
The regional police said the driver was arrested and was currently in custody. His health condition is normal, "otherwise he would not have been put in jail," the police said.
The driver of the bus is a citizen of the Russian Federation, but the criminal case will be investigated and the driver will be tried in Ukraine. The issue of extradition hasn't been brought up, the police said.
The investigators are working on several theories of the causes of the bus crash. They believe the driver most likely fell asleep at the wheel.
The driver himself refutes these allegations and argues that the bus overturned after he made an attempt to avoid a white car. However, the investigators do not believe this story.
As reported, a bus carrying a group of Christian pilgrims from Velikiye Luki, the Pskov region of Russia, to the Pochayiv Monastery in western Ukraine overturned on a highway between Chernihiv and Kyiv in the north of Ukraine early on Saturday. Fourteen people were killed and 29 others injured in the crash.
Three Russians injured in the accident are in emergency care at Chernihiv city hospital. All of them are critical, the Ukrainian Health Ministry said. The other twenty-five pilgrims have been taken to hospitals in Moscow and Pskov.
