Updated

The head of a Russian non-governmental organization says a group of activists and journalists has been attacked and their vehicle set afire near the border of Chechnya and a neighboring republic.

Igor Kalyapin, chairman of the Committee For Prevention of Torture and a member of the Russian Presidential Human Rights Council, said on the council's website that the attack took place Wednesday when assailants in three cars blocked a bus carrying activists and journalists on a media trip near the border of Chechnya and Ingushetia.

The attackers beat the participants and set the bus on fire.

Russian news reports said the journalists included reporters from Sweden and Norway. Sweden's state broadcaster SR said its Moscow correspondent was among those who were attacked.