In central Irkutsk, a route bus drove onto the sidewalk and crashed into a metal pole, which fell on a 20 year old student waiting at a stop. The girl suffered fatal injuries, and witnesses and traffic police believe there could have been more victims because of the crowd. The article gives witness and driver statements and says the circumstances of the crash are being investigated.

A 20-year-old student died today in the center of Irkutsk. On Dzerzhinsky Street, a route bus drove onto the sidewalk and crashed into a metal pole, which fell on the girl. She was waiting for a bus at the public transport stop.
According to witnesses and traffic police officers, there could have been more victims. At the moment of the tragedy, people had gathered at the "Central Market" public transport stop. According to eyewitnesses of the traffic accident, the bus was traveling at high speed. "As it was passing the stop, it suddenly swerved sharply, hit the curb, and crashed into a pole. The pole fell. The girl was standing a meter from the curb, and it suddenly struck her on the forehead with this pipe. She fell and did not move anymore. Blood immediately gushed from her nose," said Natalia Abramushkina, an eyewitness.
A similar picture is described by the alleged culprit of the tragedy, Georgy Popov, whose driving experience is just under 40 years. "Well, how? I'm moving with the flow, looking in the left mirror, and a foreign car cuts me off. I just steer to the right: bang! And that's it, I caught the pole. And I look - the woman is falling," says Georgy Popov, the bus driver.
Eyewitnesses immediately called an ambulance. Witnesses say that after the impact the girl was alive for about 10 more minutes. However, traffic jams on the central streets did not allow the medics to get to the scene quickly. The victim died before the doctors arrived. "At the moment, an investigation is underway. That is, the causes of the accident and the degree of the driver's guilt will be established during the investigation," commented Andrey Kabanov, senior inspector for public relations of the Traffic Police Department of the Internal Affairs Directorate for the city of Irkutsk.
The girl's identity was established immediately. Documents of the deceased were found in her handbag by members of the investigative-operational group who arrived at the scene. The police found out: the girl was a student at one of Irkutsk's vocational educational institutions.