Police officer charged in fatal crash

MOSCOW, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- An off-duty police officer allegedly was drunk when his Mazda hit a parked car, killing three people in Russia's Tyumen Region, authorities said.

"While driving a Mazda vehicle in an intoxicated state, he was unable to control the car and crashed into a stationary vehicle," an Interior Ministry police spokesman said Monday.

The accident in the Vikolovsky District killed three people in the officer's car and injured the officer, who faces up to nine years in prison if convicted, RIA Novosti reported.

More than 30,000 people are killed in traffic accidents in Russia each year.

"A lack of discipline and the criminal negligence of drivers" combined with the poor condition of Russia's roads are to blame, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said recently.