The bus driver who fatally struck four pedestrians near the temple in Yekaterinburg has been detained.

      The bus driver who fatally struck four pedestrians near a temple in Yekaterinburg has been detained.

      On June 11, 2026, the director of the transport company and the driver of the route bus, who fatally hit four pedestrians, including a child, on the sidewalk in the center of Yekaterinburg on the evening of June 10, were detained. This was reported on Thursday morning by the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Sverdlovsk region.

      Criminal cases have been initiated by the investigative authorities of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Sverdlovsk region against the bus driver, a 49-year-old foreign citizen, and the 43-year-old director of the transport company that owns the bus, the agency reports. The driver is suspected of committing a crime under part 5 of article 264 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of traffic rules resulting in the death of two or more persons through negligence). The director of the transport company is suspected of committing a crime under part 3 of article 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (providing services that do not meet safety requirements for the life and health of consumers).

      According to the investigation, the driver entered the intersection on a red traffic light, which provoked the accident and the subsequent collision with the pedestrians.

      A man named Ikromjon arrived in Yekaterinburg on February 8. He started working as a driver under a contract with a commercial transport company on March 6. Prior to this, he was in St. Petersburg, where he violated traffic rules six times, notes "Ъ-Ural".

      For its part, the director of the transport company is believed by the investigation to have systematically violated the rules for releasing vehicles onto the line, insufficiently controlled the condition of passenger transport, failed to organize proper medical examinations for drivers before they went on routes, and violated the work and rest regime of employees.

      Both suspects have been detained in accordance with procedural law. A decision will soon be made regarding the charges against them and the choice of a preventive measure in the form of detention.

      The legality of the foreign citizen's stay and employment in the Russian Federation, who was driving the bus, is being verified.

      Searches are being conducted in the premises of the transport company, necessary technical, characteristic, and other documentation is being seized, and recordings from surveillance cameras that captured the moment of the accident are being analyzed. Investigators are identifying and questioning witnesses, including direct eyewitnesses of the accident.

      The investigation is also checking information that has appeared in the public domain about previous violations by route drivers that were discussed by the transport company.

      The criminal cases are being handled by the first department for the investigation of particularly important cases of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Sverdlovsk region. Investigators are working in cooperation with colleagues from the territorial investigative department, the regional Investigative Committee, and the forensic support department of the Main Forensic Center of the Investigative Committee of Russia (located in Yekaterinburg).

      Earlier, the head of the press service of the Sverdlovsk Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that police officers had identified three of the four victims. At the temple where the tragedy occurred yesterday, a spontaneous memorial has emerged as a sign of mourning for the deceased.