Penza, 2 March 2016. PenzaNews. The Ulyanovsk region created a task force to provide assistance to victims of a big traffic accident by Penza that left 9 dead, as, according to preliminary data, some of the victims and the injured come from the region.

© PenzaNewsBuy the photo

The task force is headed by Sergei Morozov, the governor of the Ulyanovsk region, who is personally monitoring the situation.

An emergency group of EMERCOM experts and representatives of the Ulyanovsk region government has been dispatched to the crash site at his orders.

The Ulyanovsk region Ministry of Health has been instructed to conduct the necessary measures to provide immediate medical assistance to the injured. At the same time, the Head Department of Labor, Employment and Social Well-Being is tasked to provide material assistance to those in need.

In addition, Sergei Morozov got in touch with the Penza region governor Ivan Belozertsev to coordinate the measures to provide aid to people in the tragic accident.

The Ulyanovsk region governor plans to gather the task force immediately after his return from a business trip at 20.30 of Wednesday, March 2.

Moreover, according to Pavel Degtyar, deputy chairman of the Ulyanovsk region government, regional Minister of Health, they are negotiating the transfer of the minibus driver to the dedicated clinical medical assistance center.

The current status of the man in question is moderately severe, says the press service of the Ulyanovsk region government.

As PenzaNews reported earlier, the emergency services received the report about the tragic accident in the Bessonovka area of the Penza region at 13.10 of Wednesday, March 2, after a Mercedes passenger minibus collided with a MAN freight truck on the M5 “Ural” federal highway, leaving nine dead – all of them passengers of the minibus – and three injured, including a child.

According to original reports, the minibus was en route from Ulyanovsk to Penza: however, later the sources clarified that the vehicle departed from Penza towards Ulyanovsk.

The EMERCOM opened an incident hotline: +7 (8412) 68-11-12.

After a thorough investigation, the emergency rescue crew began extracting the bodies out of the vehicle, cutting through mangled metal.

Among the officials that coordinated the works at the accident scene were Sergei Kozlov, head of the Penza region EMERCOM headquarters, and Yuri Ruzlyaev, chief of the regional Ministry of the Interior department.

The Investigative Committee staff are also engaged in the process of establishing the full picture of the incident.

The relatives of the deceased began gathering at the crash site approximately three hours after the incident. Some of them had to resort to psychological aid.

The Penza region Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case under Part 3, Art. 238 of the Criminal Code, “Production, Storage, Carriage or Sale of Goods and Products, Fulfillment of Works or Rendering of Services Which Do Not Meet Safety Standards.”

In addition, the Penza region Ministry of the Interior department also opened a criminal case, this time under Part 5, Art. 264 of the Criminal Code, “Violation of Traffic Rules and Rules for Operation of Transport Vehicles.”