A woman who rammed a group of pedestrians outside Moscow with her car admitted to drunk driving, but said she was taking her boyfriend to the hospital, Vesti.ru reported on Sunday.
The incident took place on late Saturday near the city of Staraya Kupavna, some 20 kilometers to the east of Moscow, Moskovsky Komsomolets daily said.
Yekaterina Zaul, 24, crashed her Land Rover into a group of people walking on the roadside, killing five of them, including a seven-year-old girl, reports said. Another underage girl was hospitalized in stable condition, Moskovsky Komsomolets said.
Zaul was driving under influence, a law enforcement source told RIA Novosti.
Zaul admitted taking several whiskey shots on that day, but said she was rushing her boyfriend to hospital from an outdoors party because he started to asphyxiate, Vesti.ru cited her as saying.
The man was unhurt in the car crash, Moskovsky Komsomolets said. It remained unclear whether he still had any other health problems.
Regional police did not comment on Zaul’s story, but opened a case over the incident that may land her in prison for up to nine years if charged and convicted of gross traffic rules violations that resulted in multiple deaths.
