ASTANA, July 31 (RIA Novosti) - Five people have been killed and 23 injured in two major bus accidents in Kazakhstan, the republic's interior ministry said on Thursday.

The first accident occurred shortly after midnight, when a bus taking around 40 miners to work in central Kazakhstan's Karaganda Region collided with a car lift truck, killing two people immediately and injuring 17.

Several hours later, a bus transporting 34 passengers crashed into a tractor near the southern Kazakh city of Zhambyl, killing three people and injuring six.

Bus accidents in the Central Asian state have killed a total of 8 people and injured 47 in the past 10 days. The government has already ordered extra safety check-ups of coaches and other measures to reduce traffic accidents.