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Minibus crash in Ukraine leaves 3 dead, 4 severely injured

Xinhua, March 18, 2016 Adjust font size:

At least three people were killed and four others were severely injured in a minibus crash early Thursday in Ukraine's central Poltava region, local police said.

The accident happened at around 2 a.m. local time (GMT 2300 Wednesday), when a minibus carrying seven people, slammed into a road barrier on the highway connecting the Ukrainian capital Kiev and the country's second-largest city of Kharkov.

One passenger of the vehicle died at the scene, while the driver and five other passengers were taken to the intensive care unit of the local hospital in severe condition.

Two people later died in the hospital as their treatment failed.

Initial investigation suggested that fatigue and carelessness of the minibus driver, who lost control of his vehicle, could have caused the crash. If the driver's fault is proven, he may face up to 10 years behind the bars.

Since the beginning of the year, more that 4,300 road accidents occurred in Ukraine, causing 533 people to die. Carelessness and drunk driving, speeding, driver fatigue and poor road conditions were responsible for most of the accidents. Endit