You're reading: Four killed as minibus hits landmine in Donbas

Four people died on Feb. 10 when a minibus carrying five passengers ran over a landmine in Donetsk Oblast, Ukrainian media have reported.

The incident occurred near the Novomykhailivka Ukrainian military checkpoint in Mariyinka District of Donetsk Oblast. Those killed included three passengers and the minibus driver.

According to reports, the minibus had been standing in a line of the cars waiting to pass through the checkpoint when the driver drove off the road in an attempt to skip the queue. As it did so, the vehicle hit a landmine.

The landmine had been placed in no man’s land some 600 meters away from the Ukrainian military checkpoint. The bus was driving from separatist-controlled Donetsk to Mariyinka, a town held by Ukrainian government forces.

According to the Ukrainian military press center, signs put up along the road warned of danger from landmines, but the minibus driver had ignored them.

He and two passengers were killed instantly. One man was critically injured and died later in hospital in the nearby town of Kurakhove. There is currently no information on the condition of the passenger who survived the blast.

The Prosecutor’s Office of Donetsk Oblast together with National Police have launched a criminal case on intentional homicide following the incident.

A similar tragedy occurred a little over a year ago, when a minibus with passengers was shelled on the same highway some 60 kilometers away. On Jan. 13, separatists fired Grad rockets at a Ukrainian checkpoint near the city of Volnovakha, hitting a large minibus as it was passing. Twelve passengers were killed and 18 injured in that incident.