At least 52 killed in bus fire in Kazakhstan
5 passengers manage to escape, says Kazakh Interior Ministry
A bus is seen after it caught fire, killing 52 people, in Aktobe, Kazakhstan on January 18, 2018. ( Kazakhstan Committee of Emergency Situations / Handout - Anadolu Agency )
ASTANA
At least 52 people were killed in a bus fire in northwestern Kazakhstan, the country’s Interior Ministry said on Thursday.
“There were 55 passengers and two drivers on the bus," in the Aktobe region, Ruslan Imankulov, the ministry’s Emergency Situations Committee representative, told reporters.
"Five passengers managed to escape with injuries.”
He added that the reason for the fire was unknown.
Local media reported that all the passengers on the bus were nationals of Uzbekistan.
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu expressed grief over the accident.
“I convey my condolences to the friendly and brotherly #Kazakhstan and #Uzbekistan,” Cavusoglu wrote on his official Twitter account.
Reporting by Aliia Raimbekova:Writing by Handan Kazanci
