NOVOSIBIRSK, July 20 (RIA Novosti) - At least 8 people died and 38 were injured in a bus accident in the Novosibirsk region of Siberia early on Monday, a police spokesman told RIA Novosti.
According to preliminary reports, the bus, traveling from West Siberia's Tomsk to Yarvoe, near the Kazakh border, flipped over at 2:30 am [20.30 GMT]. The bus was carrying 47 passengers and two drivers.
"According to preliminary information, the driver fell asleep at the wheel. However, according to the driver, he was talking with a co-worker on the phone when the accident occurred," the spokesman said.
He also said that both drivers survived the crash and neither was seriously injured.
A regional health department spokeswoman, Yelena Bush, told RIA Novosti that there were 46 passengers and two drivers on the bus. She said eight people, including one child, had died. She also said that five had died at the scene of the accident, two on their way to hospital, and one in hospital.
An investigation into the cause of the accident is ongoing.
