DPA/AFP/Moscow

A truck crashed into a passenger bus on the outskirts of Moscow yesterday, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 60, officials said.
The accident took place in the city of Podolsk, about 35km north of the Russian capital, between a packed passenger bus and a lorry carrying gravel.
The impact ripped the bus in two.
Most of the 12cu m of gravel the lorry was carrying was spilled across the accident site, making rescue operations difficult.
Video footage posted online showed the speeding truck going out of control and crashing into the bus.
The head of the capital’s health department, Georgy Golukhov, told the RIA Novosti news agency that injuries had been especially severe as the bus passengers were also hit with the gravel the truck was carrying.
A preliminary investigation revealed that the driver of the truck was apparently at fault.
Police identified the truck driver as a 46-year-old Armenian citizen.
Moscow deputy mayor Pyotr Birukov said that the driver had been fined for traffic violations six times over the last year.
The driver, who survived the crash, has been hospitalised and is being interrogated by police, Birukov added.
The television pictures showed emergency workers shovelling through the black gravel that had been showered over the road.
The civil defence ministry said that 14 people died on the spot, while the others succumbed to their injuries in hospital.
More than 230 rescuers, 30 ambulances and two helicopters were deployed to the crash site, according to the emergency ministry.
The Moscow authorities said that Monday would be a day of mourning in the Moscow region for the victims of the crash.
The bus was travelling on a regular public transport route from Podolsk to Zhokhovo in the Moscow region and was packed with some 60 passengers.
A huge traffic jam ensued as emergency services blocked off the road with police handing out water to stranded drivers on a hot summer’s day.
Russia has one of the world’s worst road safety records with some 25,000 people losing their lives in traffic accidents every year, although the government is seeking to improve the situation with tough measures including a zero-tolerance ban on drink driving.
Most of the accidents are blamed on human error, badly maintained roads and old vehicles.