Three Russian tourists killed in accident in Belgium - Russian embassy
BRUSSELS. April 14 (Interfax) - Three Russian nationals and two Poles were killed in a bus accident near Antwerp, Belgium, on Sunday morning, the counsellor of the Russian embassy in Belgium, Georgy Kuznetsov, told Interfax in Brussels.
Kuznetsov's statement confirms official reports released on Sunday morning, claiming that five were killed, among them three Russian tourists.
He said all tourists who were traveling in this bus were Russian nationals.
Nineteen passengers sustained injurieis. Some of them were seriously hurt, he said.
"Five passengers sustained serious injurieis, but updated reports suggest their lives are not in danger. Let us pray for them," Kuznetsov said.
The embassy is monitoring the situation and is prepared to aid the victims and Russian organizations dealing with the accident, he said.
The Russian embassy's hotline number is 8-10-322-3743400.
The unhurt passengers have been accommodated at children's holiday centers outside Antwerp. Russian diplomats have been attached to them.
Kuznetsov earlier told Interfax that the passengers who were not hurt, or suffered minor injuries, could be transported back to Russia.
The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said on its website at 5 p.m. that more than 20 people were injured in the accident and one Russian woman was killed.
The 19 injured passengers, among them five seriously injured tourists, were moved to hospitals, it said.
There were 39 people in the bus, including 31 children.
Reports that five people were killed in an accident in Belgium and more than 20 injured have been confirmed to Interfax by the Emergency Situations Ministry's southern regional center.
"Five people were killed and 19 were moved to hospitals," the center's spokesperson said.
Five of the injured passengers are in serious condition, she said.
Psychologists have been dispatched to Volgograd to aid the victims' families, she added.
Children aged between 12 and 17 were traveling in the bus, the spokeswoman said.
