Seventeen people dead after bus plunges into Russia's Kerch strait

At least fourteen people have died after a bus carrying oil workers fell into the Kerch Strait in southern Russia.

The territorial Emergencies Ministry press service confirmed the incident and said searches are being carried out with assistance from federal rescue teams.

The bus was returning workers home from the Tamanneftegas oil terminal, when it fell into the water in the Krasnodar region, for reasons that are as yet unclear.

"According to updated data, 17 people were killed, 24 were rescued, 8 of them were hospitalized," the source said. It was earlier reported that 16 people were confirmed dead. 

"The bus belongs to the company that is building a pier for the Tamanneftgas oil and gas company. It was carrying shift workers," TASS cited the Emergency Ministry as saying.

The case was initiated under Article 264 of the Russian Criminal Code 'Violation of traffic rules or operation of vehicles entailing the deaths of two or more persons by a person driving a vehicle,' Russian Investigative Committee’s Spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said.