MOSCOW, May 24 (RIA Novosti) - Seven people were killed and 17 severely injured in western Ukraine on Sunday morning, in a crash between a truck and a minibus on its way to a monastery, the emergencies ministry said.
Ministry spokesman Igor Krol said the minibus was carrying 24 passengers and one driver.
The injured are being treated in a nearby hospital. Sixteen of the Orthodox Christians pilgrims, and the driver of the Turkish truck, are in a serious condition.
The group was on a pilgrimage to the Krehovsky monastery in the west of the Lviv region.
Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has conveyed her condolences to the families of the victims, a government statement said.
Krol said that according to preliminary information, the collision occurred after the driver of the oncoming truck fell asleep behind the wheel and swerved into the wrong lane.
