16 dead, 21 in 'grave condition' after ANOTHER bus crash

WARNING: graphic images!

Pictures from the scene show the carnage in the aftermath of the third such incident in a month in Siberia and the Far East of Russia. A child was among the 16 dead, and three children are among those whose condition is 'grave' in hospital.

People at the scene helped pull the wounded from the smashed buses. In all 60 were reported injured in the crash.

One bus overturned down a verge at the side of the highway. Witnesses said one driver was overtaking and in the wrong lane when his vehicle struck the other bus. 

But the surviving driver of one of the buses, Alex Onuchin, said a construction vehicle was engaged in road works.

'On the opposite lane was a vehicle hammering in piles. The intercity bus came from the oncoming lane and the driver lost control,' he said. 

'I try to steer my bus away, but he suddenly hit me from the left, and as the result I was on the right side of the road, trying to somehow align my bus, so as not to fall into the ditch.' 

The accident was close to Lake Gassi in Khabarovsk region. 

Rescue and firefighting teams, traffic police, ambulance brigades and a Russian Emergencies Ministry response group were dispatched to the scene.

Regional governor Vyacheslav Shport travelled to the scene. The Russian Investigative Committee said a criminal probe had been launched into the fatal crash.

The latest deaths will raise safety concerns over bus travel in Russia. Last month, Krasnoyark region suffered two bus crashes leading to fatalities.