Dozens of fireworks were set off in the middle of a highway after a lorry transporting them collided with a car, killing four people, including a mother and her two young sons.
The incident occurred near a petrol station on a highway in the Amur, Russia, on October 17.
A 43-year-old woman, not yet named, driving a Toyota Prius, appeared to not give way to a Scania lorry with a semi-trailer that was carrying Chinese firecrackers.
The two vehicles collided and caught fire, prompting an explosion that simultaneously set off the pyrotechnics.
The tragic scene was captured on video by witnesses and it reportedly lasted for several minutes.
Firefighters managed to control the fire before it reached the petrol station.
Amid the burnt wreckage, they discovered the bodies of the woman and her two sons, aged eight and 11.
Later, while dismantling the destroyed vehicles, firefighters discovered the body of a fourth victim, also a woman who has not yet been named.
Officials said the victims’ identities are yet to be confirmed as they were burnt beyond recognition.
The lorry driver has been hospitalised and all the cargo he was transporting was destroyed.
The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations said in a statement: ‘At the 1,476th kilometre of the federal highway ‘Amur,’ a lorry and a car collided, and both vehicles caught fire.
‘According to preliminary reports, the lorry driver has been hospitalised. Unfortunately, everyone in the car died.’
Later, it added in an update: ‘According to updated information, four people died in the accident. The Russian Emergencies Ministry employees unblocked and pulled out the mangled passenger car from under the lorry.
‘In it were the bodies of a woman and two children aged eight and 11. Another dead person was found during the dismantling and dousing of the burnt cars. The identity is being established.’
Police are investigating.
Last year, a truckload of fireworks ‘intended for an oligarch party’ exploded on a highway near Moscow.
Dramatic footage showed the explosion near Podolsk after a trailer disconnected and ignited.
‘Fireworks were exploding and shooting in different directions and there was a huge fire,’ said a witness.
The busy 450 mile Crimea Highway was completely blocked. It partially links the Russian capital to Crimea, illegally annexed by Vladimir Putin from Ukraine in 2014.
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