WORLD : 56 Die in Fiery Soviet Bus Crash

Fifty-six people were killed when a passenger bus traveling at high speed collided with a truck and caught fire in southern Russia, police said today.

A traffic police spokesman said the accident occurred Sunday morning on the highway linking Rostov-on-Don and Voronezh. He gave no further details but said a senior police inspector had been sent to the site.

The independent Postfactum news agency said the accident occurred when a car crossed the dividing line and collided with the truck. The bus then plowed into the two vehicles at high speed.

“According to the representative of the transport company, the bus was completely burned out,” Postfactum said. “Fifty-five passengers died on the spot. Thirteen people were taken to a hospital in the city of Alekseyevo-Lozovoskoye, where one passenger died.”