Carnage on the streets of Ukraine as heiress 'jumps red light and kills six'

A glamorous oligarch's daughter has been has been detained after claims that she "jumped a red light and rammed into a crowd", resulting in the deaths of six people.

There was carnage on the streets of the Ukrainian city Kharkiv, after a Lexus driven by Alyona Zaitseva struck a VW Touareg before completely overturning and landing on its wheels. It then went on to plough through people waiting on the pavement at a pedestrian crossing.

The dead included a 15-year-old schoolgirl.

Among the seriously wounded is a woman who is seven months pregnant, described as being in a grave condition in hospital.

Armed bodyguards of the 20-year-old heiress reportedly drove up in two jeeps immediately after the crash and protected her from a furious crowd who witnessed the incident.

One onlooker who was trying to help the injured said: "It's like a war zone."

A shocking video of the aftermath of the crash showed bodies strewn on the pavement.

Zaitseva, the daughter of local energy company multi-millionaire Vasily Zaitsev, was uninjured. The student will be detained initially by police for three days.

Officers said she was found not to have been drinking before the crash. If convicted of causing the crash, she faces up to ten years in jail.

But local bloggers expressed fears that because of her powerful father she will be exonerated, despite witnesses saying she sped through the red light.

The driver of the Touareg, Gennady Dronov, 49, was on a green light when the vehicles collided, according to witnesses.

Three of the dead were named as Elena Berchenko, 25, Yury Neudachin, 24, Oksana Nesterenko, 36.