Bus driver sentenced to 10 years in prison over fatal crash in Navoi region

The Tomdi District Court in Navoi region has sentenced a bus driver to 10 years in prison following a severe traffic accident that resulted in multiple passenger fatalities earlier this year. The ruling, delivered on June 11, 2026, details how a brief moment of distraction at the wheel led to the fatal crash.

The incident occurred on the morning of January 5, when a Zhongtong bus owned by Erkin Emina Express Tour LLC was traveling along the Uchquduq–Tashkent route with 47 passengers on board. After departing the city of Zarafshon, the driver lost control of the vehicle between the 167km and 168km markers of the A-379 international highway.

Court documents revealed that the driver, identified as Kh.Sh., became distracted while trying to drink water and searching for the bottle cap. This caused the bus to veer off the right side of the road, plunge down an embankment, and overturn.

The impact of the crash caused the immediate deaths of three minor passengers at the scene, identified in court files as K.I., Zh.S., and Z.A. Numerous other passengers sustained injuries ranging from light to severe. Note that while initial reports immediately following the incident indicated two casualties, the final judicial review confirmed three fatalities.

The Tomdi District Court found Kh.Sh. guilty under Article 266, Part 3, Clause "a" of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan, which covers traffic safety violations resulting in human casualties.

In addition to the 10-year prison sentence, the court stripped the driver of his right to operate any form of transportation for a period of three years. The court also ordered the defendant to pay UZS 147,300,000 to Erkin Emina Express Tour LLC to cover the material damages caused by the destruction of the vehicle.