Seven persons died and five received injuries after their bus crashed into a gorge in Ukraine's Carpathian mountain region, officials at the Ministry of Emergency Situations said Friday. The accident took place on a secondary road in the western Lviv province near the Slovak border. The vehicle fell more than seven metres into a river gorge after leaving the roadway. Police blamed driver error and slippery road conditions for the mishap. Work was in progress to recover the vehicle, and to learn how many persons had actually been aboard the bus. Five survivors able to make their way out of the gorge were receiving treatment at a Lviv region hospital. All were expected to recover. Ukraine's roads are often badly maintained, especially in the country's economically-depressed Carpathian mountain region. --SP 2327 Local Time 2027 GMT
