Stoneworks and our partners have been helping Orphanage #8 in St. Pete for many years. Today their bus was in an accident as they returned from a Spring Break holiday. The details are coming more clear, and it appears that a car (driven by a policeman) was passing the bus and clipped an on-coming truck which then hit the bus with great force. There was a fire.

Four adults on the bus were killed, two drivers and two chaperones, Maria Metrofonova (below R) and our friend Lydia Dimova (below L). Lydia had been the director for many years and even in retirement continued to commit her life to helping the children. She organized this trip as a special gift to the older children.

We are very shocked and sad.

We’ve heard that one of the young ladies we know has a broken back, but information is still a bit shaky. We’ve also heard that some children have been air-lifted to St. Petersburg and others are being taken care of in a town close to the accident site (a few hours from St. Pete). Some of these children participated in our hosting program a few years ago.

Liz Sukhovskaya and Sergei Tovstopyat are in touch with the director, staff members and other orphans, and over the coming days we’ll get more information and see how we can help.

Please keep everyone in prayer. It’s hard for me to imagine how a teenage orphan would feel when faced with life-changing wounds and no family to support them. We’ll do our best to support them and will give updates as we know more.

Here is a news item about it: http://www.ntv.ru/novosti/535162/

And here is video of the accident scene: http://lifenews.ru/news/112218

And here is a rough translation of a news item:

Nikita Mogutin, Life News Online
12:15, Thursday 28 March 2013
Truck crashed into a passenger bus carrying orphans returning from the trip. After the collision, the bus caught fire.

In the accident near Vologda killed 6 people

Rescue services and police Vologda region immediately went to the scene of a major accident that occurred on the road near Cherepovets. A freight truck  at high speed collided with a bus carrying 25 orphaned children. The boys returned to St. Petersburg to orphanage № 8 after a tour of Vologda.

– In the twelfth hour of the day on the Vologda – Novaya Ladoga highway hit head-on a cargo van and a bus “Nissan”, carrying a group of children from the orphanage of St. Petersburg – a spokesman EMERCOM in the Vologda region, Anatoly boots. – At this moment we know of 6 dead and 18 wounded.

The driver multi-ton “SCANIA” According to preliminary information, just fell asleep at the wheel, and then flew at a speed of the oncoming traffic lane. The car crashed head-on into the bus with the children. This occurred at a high speed that the chance to move aside by the bus driver was not simple.

– According to preliminary data, the driver of the truck is to blame. He drove into oncoming traffic, where he performed head-on collision with a passenger bus, then the bus caught fire – said Acting chief of the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Vologda region Tatiana Zarubalova. [it’s now being said that a car caused the crash – mc]

Injured children were able to get out on their own from the twisted, fire enveloped cabin. Helping them was almost no one – almost all adults were killed, as they were at the front of the cabin.

According to Life News, among the dead as the number of both the driver from the injuries they died on the spot of the accident. Also killed four counselors and one passenger on the truck.

Full list of injured and killed in road accident:

Alain Amelchenko 1999 p.
Andrew Balkov, born in 1997
Xenia Barzygina born 1997
Eugene Vlasov, born 1997
Ruslan Grigor’yants born in 1998
Alexander Kochkina born 1996
Denis Kulikov, born 2003
Vadim Knyazev, born 2000
Elizabeth, born 1997 Kamenev
Tatyana Lavrova born 1996
Vadim Lazukin born 1995
Zarina Grigor’yants born 1995
Nikolai Maslov born 1996
Valentina Maslova, born 2000
Anastasia Razumov born 2001
Ivan, born in 2003 Porisenko
Anastasia Mizhuy born 2000
Artem Tikhonov born 1996
Constantine, born in 1997 Tresckow
Ksenia Fedorova 1997 born
Victoria Fedorova 1997 born
Dmitry Swedes born in 1997
Tsar Peter born in 1996
Clear Botez 2003 born
Alexander Fedorov born 2000
Lydia Dimov 1953 – Organizer.
Maria Mitrofanova 1958 g.r educator.
Victoria Kuzmina born 1982 educator.
Tatiana Apatow born 1991 educator.
Sergei Stalyarov 1952 driver.
Albert Firyan 1960 g.r driver.

As the correspondent of Life News from the scene, the victims in the accident returned children with special four-day tour of Vologda, organized by “Earth Tour”. The bus was owned by the orphanage.

Now the area of the accident was a huge traffic jam, measuring about 7 kilometers. At the scene of the helicopter crash MOE, in which there are lifeguards and management of children’s homes.