Local health authorities, cited by TASS, report that 19 people were killed. Earlier reports by local authorities indicated there were at least two children in critical condition after the collision.

The accident happened at 3:39am on Friday near the Pokrov station in Vladimir Region.

A hospital caring for the injured has told Sputnik news agency that five people have been admitted, and that four of them are in critical condition. Police are working on the ground to establish the details of the accident. Early data indicates the driver went across the rail tracks in spite of a red traffic light, and the bus's engine stalled in the process.

The regional governor's press secretary told RIA that the bus, with Kazakhstan license plates and carrying Uzbek citizens, was going around a traffic jam when it arrived at the railroad crossing and stalled.

"People inside the bus were sleeping, there were 50 of them. The driver shouted and 34 people ran out of the bus to push it. They survived. Those who remained in the bus died. It got literally torn apart," Rita Shlyakhtina said.