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Troopers say it will take weeks to get inside bus involved in fatal crash

KIRKLAND, Wash. — Washington State Patrol said it will take two weeks before detectives get a look inside the bus involved in the fatal crash in Kirkland on Monday.

"They want to be able to get some of that background done, make sure they have an idea of all the elements they need to be looking into, then they will be requesting a search warrant," said Washington State Patrol Trooper Julie Judson.

Troopers said their first priority is interviewing the 24 passengers aboard the Community Transit bus.

After wrapping the interviews up, they expect to obtain and serve a warrant to look at the bus' engine control module. It's similar to a black box on an airplane.

Detectives also added that they do not believe the bus driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash.

When we went to the driver Aleksandr Rukhlin's house he told us he could not talk about the case, and referred us to his employer, First Transit. He did say that he volunteered for a blood test, which State Patrol confirmed.

Rukhlin told detectives the bus spun out of control when the brakes failed.

The State Patrol said because this case is so complex they expect the investigation will take up to six months to finish.