Six people have been killed and two young children hospitalized with serious injuries after a section of a road collapsed near Crimea's regional capital of Simferopol.
A Russian-made Lada carrying eight people fell into a crater about 8 meters wide and 6-8 meters deep after the road caved in on Sunday, the Interfax news agency reported, citing a spokesman for the Emergency Situations Ministry's regional branch.
Four adults and two children were killed in the accident and two more children — a 1-year-old boy and his 12-year-old sister — were hospitalized, the spokesman added.
Doctors had apparently considered airlifting the boy for treatment in Moscow, but his injuries were deemed too serious to move him, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets said, Interfax reported.
The section of highway that collapsed ran over an underground railroad and also sent ground and rocks tumbling into the tunnel, blocking the rail line, Crimea's regional Deputy Transportation Minister Anatoly Tsurkin was quoted as saying.
The families of the victims will be compensated 400,000 rubles ($10,000) per victim, with the same amount due to be paid out for each of the injured parties, the Crimean government said Sunday in an online statement.
The regional Investigative Committee has opened a criminal inquiry into the road collapse on charges of manslaughter.