At least 13 people, including two children, died in Russia's Muslim region of Tatarstan today when a packed minibus collided with a car and burst into flames, news agencies reported.
Interfax quoted local police as saying a Volkswagen and a Russian-made Gazel minibus collided at high speed on a motorway linking the Volga River cities of Ulyanovsk and Kazan.
Russia's NTV channel showed pictures of a smoking mass of twisted metal and tyres scattered on a deserted highway in the steppes of central Russia.
Two people, including the father of the two dead children, survived the crash and were rushed to hospitals, Interfax said. Itar-Tass news agency put the death toll at 14.
Local police were not immediately available for comment.
Road accidents are common in Russia. Old cars and bad roads contribute to dozens of the thousands of deaths every year.
Last year, a string of deadly car crashes involving Gazel minibuses -- favoured by Russians for their cheapness and known as "marshrutkas" -- raised concerns about the safety of Russian-made cars.
"The Gazel is a dangerous type of transport. As far as I am concerned, inter-city travel on such minibuses should be banned," Rafil Nugumanov, Tatarstan's deputy interior minister, told First Channel television.
"Even on trips within cities it's too risky to take them."