MOSCOW - At least 12 people were killed and 16 others injured on Saturday when a truck crashed into a bus in Moscow, the Emergency Situations Ministry said.

"As of 2 p.m. Moscow time (1000 GMT), preliminary reports say 12 people died and 16 others were injured, including one child," ministry spokesperson Irina Rossius told reporters.

Local media said in earlier reports that the accident, which happened in the Troitsky Administrative District, involved several vehicles and left at least 19 people injured besides 12 fatalities.

Rossius also noted that the bus was a regular commuter bus instead of one specially for transporting children.

An unnamed police source told the Interfax news agency that the truck, loaded with crushed stone, ran into the bus "while approaching from a minor road."

The bus was torn apart and the driver was among the dead, the source added.

A helicopter with medical specialists aboard was sent to the crash site.