Russian Investigative Committee Requests Arrest of Kuban Bus Crash Suspects

Russian investigators have requested an arrest of suspects in the case probing the sinking of a bus in the country’s southern region of Kuban (Krasnodar region), Russian Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said Saturday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Petrenko said that earlier on Saturday the investigators questioned Karapet Mikaelyan, the driver of the bus, and private entrepreneur Yuriy Vecheradze as suspects in the case.

"The investigation is requesting from the court to arrest the bus driver Karapet Mikaelyan and private entrepreneur Yuriy Vecheradze," she said.

The spokeswoman added that the investigators examined the confiscated documents of Tamanneftegas and its contractor for the pier construction, questioning the suspects, witnesses and victims as well as carrying out the necessary expert investigations.

Rescuers raised the bus that plunged into the Kerch Strait from a bridge in Russia's Krasnodar region on Friday, August 25

© Photo : Russian Emergencies Ministry

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The bus carrying about 50 construction workers plunged into the Kerch Strait near the village of Volna in the Krasnodar region on Friday killing 18 people. The body of the 18th, presumably the last victim of the crash, was found on Saturday morning, a source in a Krasnodar Territory department of the Russian Emergencies Ministry told Sputnik.