A bus crash in Turkey killed at least four Russian tourists and injured 27, officials said.
The accident took place near the southwestern city of Denizli on Thursday. Turkish media reported at least six people died in the crash, while a spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Ankara, Alexander Leshukov, said four Russian nationals were killed, news agency RIA Novosti reported. Among the 27 passengers that were injured, 20 were Russian citizens.
On Friday morning, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry announced on its website that it had set up a telephone hotline for inquiries.
Zinaida Bogdanova, a woman who was on the bus, told television network Rossia 24 that the majority of passengers — about 40 people ?€” were Russians. Turkish and Russian media reported that citizens of the former Soviet republics of Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Lithuania were also on the vehicle.
The bus skid on the road, which was slippery after a recent rainfall, Bogdanova said. According to the woman, the driver managed to bring the bus to a halt and prevent it from falling into a precipice.
The crash happened just a day after the? fatal collision of two buses in far eastern Russia? and two months after another deadly accident involving a minibus carrying Russian tourists vacationing in Turkey ?€” a popular holiday destination among many Russians.