In a message of condolence regarding today’s fatal bus accident in Russia in which eight Armenian citizens died and scores injured, President Serzh Sargsyan described the incident as a “major blow to the nation, to each of us.”

“It is with great pain that I heard about the accident, in the Tula region, involving a bus returning to Yerevan from Moscow and its irreversible consequences,” Sargsyan wrote.

Sargsyan said that he has instructed Armenian law enforcement agencies to quickly launch an investigation, in cooperation with their Russian colleagues, to determine what exactly happened and why.

The president also instructed responsible Armenian state agencies draft a plan to beef up bus safety in the country based on the findings of said investigation.