A freight train struck a tourist bus at a road crossing northeast of St. Petersburg early Monday, killing one person and injuring 16 others, officials said.
The collision occurred around 6 a.m. local time in the Lodeynopolsky District of the Leningrad region, according to October Railway, the regional rail operator.
“The train driver applied emergency braking, but the distance was insufficient and the collision could not be avoided,” the railway said in a statement.
Police said the train hit the rear of the bus, which was carrying members of a religious group on their way to the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery, a 15th-century Orthodox site located just south of the republic of Karelia.
Russia’s Interior Ministry said it had opened a criminal investigation into possible violations of traffic safety and vehicle operation rules.
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