By Steve Rosenberg BBC Moscow Correspondent

At least 14 people have been killed in Russia by a steamroller which fell off a lorry and crushed a bus.

The accident happened north of the city of Ufa, on a main road west of the Ural mountains.

It was a tragic case of bad timing.

A truck carrying a steamroller was attempting to overtake a bus.

Tangled metal

As the truck pulled out into oncoming traffic a second bus raced towards it.

The truck driver slammed on the breaks - as he did so the ties holding the truck's load snapped.

The steamroller weighing several tons slid off the back of the lorry and fell onto the bus almost completely flattening it.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing a pile of tangled and crushed metal.

Rescue workers struggled to extract bodies from the wreckage.

A police spokesman said at least 14 people had been killed in the accident.