Passenger bus hits landmine in east Ukraine, three dead: Police

Kiev: At least three people were killed and six injured in eastern Ukraine when a passenger bus hit a landmine in the government-controlled town of Artemivsk, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the separatist stronghold of Donetsk, a police official told AFP.

The accident happened when the bus sought to bypass a checkpoint, said Ilia Kiva, a Kiev-loyal deputy police chief in the Donetsk region. "They were trying to avoid the verification system at the checkpoints," he told AFP, adding that the injured were in a serious condition.