The names of the five casualties in Friday morning’s tragic crash of a passenger bus, which was heading from Moscow to Armenia’s capital city of Yerevan, have become known.

The Embassy of Armenia in Moscow informed that, according to their verified data, three of these casualties are Russian citizens, and the other two—Armenian nationals.

The casualties are: A. Lunonyan (born in 1960), Armenian citizen; Yu. (Karen) Poghosyan (born in 1954), Armenian citizen; A. Lazukin (born in 1968), Russian citizen; V. Panchenko (born in 1973), Russian citizen; and S. Mamchenko (born in 1999), Russian citizen.

A criminal case is launched into this bus crash.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made contact with the Embassy of Armenia in Moscow, expressed condolences to the families of the dead, and offered its assistance.

As earlier reported, a passenger bus, which was heading from Moscow to Yerevan, collided with a truck, on Friday at around 4:30am, on the Vladikavkaz-Beslan bypass.

The Vladikavkaz authorities informed Armenian News-NEWS.am that 27 people were injured in the crash, and five had died, including the bus driver. Four children are among the injured, and one of them is in critical condition.

They also informed that most of the injured have been discharged from the hospitals of this Russian city, and solely nine are still hospitalized.  

The bus passengers that can be transported will be brought to Yerevan on board a plane of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, on the same day.

In addition, a temporary shelter was set up in Beslan, for the bus passengers that do not need medical assistance. Sometime thereafter, they headed to Yerevan on another bus.