Bus crashes through ice in Siberia, at least two killed

A bus crashed through ice while crossing a Siberian river Thursday, killing at least two people in the second such accident in Russia in three days, an emergency official said. Twenty people aboard the bus were rescued, Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov said, but the Interfax news agency reported that three others were missing. Beltsov could not confirm the report, saying it was unclear how many people had been on the bus.

The bus fell through ice covering the Yenisei River near the city of Kyzyl, some 3,400 kilometers (2,100 miles) east of Moscow, Beltsov said. Interfax reported that it was two-thirds submerged and that about 10 people had initially scrambled out and perched on its roof, waiting for help.

A minibus plunged through ice after the driver decided to take a shortcut across the Oka River in central Russia on Wednesday, apparently to avoid paying for a car ferry, killing six of the 15 people on board, reports the AP.

D.M.