Dozens injured as 2 trains collide in Moscow (PHOTO, VIDEO)
Dozens injured as 2 trains collide in Moscow (PHOTO, VIDEO)
(about 3 hours later)
Several dozen people have reportedly been injured and at least 16 hospitalized after a train going from Moscow to Brest collided with a commuter train. The emergency brakes of the commuter train are said to have malfunctioned after an urgent halt to save a man on the tracks.
Around 50 people were injured and at least 12 hospitalized after a train going from Moscow to the Belarusian city of Brest collided with a commuter train, the Russian Investigative Committee says.
MORE PHOTOS: Commuter & passenger trains collide in Moscow
MORE PHOTOS: Commuter & passenger trains collide in Moscow
Four carriages were derailed, with one turning upside down and visibly wrecked, as shown on footage filmed by eyewitnesses.
A conflicting report from the Russian Emergencies Ministry states that 15 people were hospitalized, and seven have already been sent home.
Four carriages were derailed on Sunday night, with one turning upside down and visibly damaged, as seen from footage filmed by eyewitnesses. The Russian Investigative Committee said that a malfunction of the commuter train’s emergency brakes could have caused the incident.
READ MORE: VIDEO of Moscow train collision aftermath
READ MORE: VIDEO of Moscow train collision aftermath
“At that moment 445 passengers and a train crew were on board a long-distance train, and the driver, his assistant and two ticket inspectors were on the inter-urban train,” said the Investigative Committee's spokesperson, Tatiana Morozova, as cited by RIA Novosti. She added that among those who were hospitalized are the crew of the long-distance train and both ticket inspectors.
“At the moment [of the collision] 445 passengers and a train crew were on board a long-distance train, and the driver, his assistant and two ticket inspectors were on the commuter train,” said Investigative Committee spokesperson Tatyana Morozova, as cited by RIA Novosti. She added that among those hospitalized were the crew of the long-distance train and both ticket inspectors.
Two Belarusian citizens are among the casualties, according to the country’s foreign ministry.
Fire and rescue brigades were called to the scene to evacuate the passengers. About 170 rescuers have been working at the site of the incident.
The trains collided at around 11:00pm on Saturday, and train services were suspended until 6:00am Sunday, Moscow time, the Emergencies Ministry reported.
A special commission will be set up to investigate the circumstances that led to the collision, Sergey Zheltov, a Moscow Emergencies Ministry branch official, stated. The head of the ministry, Dmitry Puchkov, arrived at the crash site to oversee the work of the emergency services.
Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched a probe into the incident. After questioning the train drivers, it stated that the initial version of events – that the train stopped to avoid hitting a man on the tracks – was found to be incorrect. The accident seems instead to have been caused by a malfunction of the commuter train’s emergency brakes, according to the statement.
Conflicting reports about the number of the injured and those who asked for medical assistance in the aftermath of the incident have been incoming. Russian Railways said that at least 50 people sought medical help following the crash, as cited by RIA Novosti.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered all necessary steps to remedy the situation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists in Moscow.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said that 14 people remain in hospital in the aftermath of the collision.
Witness accounts
“In connection to the railway accident, 14 people have been treated in Moscow hospitals. Doctors are providing necessary assistance,” the mayor wrote on his VKontakte page.
Meanwhile, a number of eyewitness reports emerged on Russian social media, with some people claiming that the commuter train, after using its emergency brakes, stood still for 20 minutes, with its lights off for around 10 minutes, before sliding down the slope and gaining speed.
Foreign citizens are among the victims of the crash, according to the preliminary data obtained by the Emergencies Ministry, its head, Dmitry Puchkov, told journalists, adding that the disrupted railway’s services are expected to be brought into operation by Sunday morning.
Three unconfirmed reports on the ‘Typical Odintsovo’ VKontakte group suggested that the train drivers were attempting to fix the brake malfunction, as passengers listened to their exchange via loudspeakers.
Revealing early details of the incident, the head of the Moscow branch of the Emergencies Ministry, Ilya Denisov, has confirmed that the crash was triggered by the decision of the commuter train’s driver to pull the emergency stop to save the life of a person on the tracks.
“Everybody rushed to the first carriage. The driver repeatedly warned us to ‘hold on.’ The train developed quite a good deal of speed,” a subscriber of the group was cited as saying.
“To prevent the train from running over a person, the driver pulled the emergency brake, as result of which the normal operation of the brake system was disrupted,” Denisov said. The driver of the long-distance train, which was closely following the commuter train, also activated the train's emergency brakes, but the distance between the two turned to be too small to avert the collision, he said.
The bang was “very strong,” an eyewitness told Moscow 24 TV.
A special commission will be set up to investigate the circumstances that led to the collision, Sergey Zheltov, first deputy head of the Moscow branch of the Emergencies Ministry stated.
“We were standing in the vestibule and felt a sharp blow. Very strong. Several people were bruised, but without major injuries,” he said.
Earlier, Russia’s Investigative Committee announced it is launching a pre-investigation check into the incident.
A young woman named Yulia Kolomytseva filmed the collision from inside the train as it was sliding down the slope. The train driver warned the passengers of an imminent collision at least four minutes before it took place, the video reveals.
The Moscow Interregional Transport Prosecutor's Office has launched a probe into the incident, a report published on the agency’s website said on Sunday.
“The Moscow Interregional Transport Prosecutor’s Office has opened an inquiry in connection with the collision of a suburban train with a passenger train going from Moscow to Brest,” the Prosecutor General’s Office said.
“We are about to crash, our train is crashing,” Yulia cries out in the video, which was published on the social networking site VKontakte, moments before the carriage violently shakes and all the lights go out.
The investigation into the criminal case was initiated under the article: “violation of safety rules for the movement and operation of rail, air, sea and inland water transport and underground.”
Some people seemingly jumped off the train before the collision, with the woman saying she regretted not doing the same.
Meanwhile, on Russian social media contradictory eyewitness reports emerged, with some people claiming that the commuter train, after using its emergency brake, stood still for some 20 minutes, half of that with its lights off, before sliding down the slope and gaining speed.
Three unconfirmed reports on the “Typical Odintsovo” VKontakte group suggested that the train drivers were apparently attempting to solve the brake malfunction, as passengers listened to their exchange via loudspeakers in confusion.
“Everybody rushed to the first carriage. The driver repeatedly warned us to “hold.” The train developed quite a good deal of speed,” a subscriber of the group was cited as saying.
The Moscow Healthcare Department earlier told RIA Novosti that 12 people, including a child, have been admitted to hospitals after the crash. One of the victims was in serious condition.
Fire and rescue brigades were called to the scene and evacuated all the passengers. Some 170 rescuers have been working at the site of the incident, aided with 70 pieces of equipment, including two emergency response trains.
One of the commuter train carriages was torn in two as result of the collision, RIA Novosti reports, citing its own correspondent at the scene.
The bang was “very strong,” an eyewitness of the crash told Moscow 24 TV channel.
“We were standing in the vestibule and felt a sharp blow. Very strong. Several people have been bruised, but without major injuries,” he said.
An eyewitness, called Evgeny, commuting from Moscow to Odintsovo in a train scheduled next to the derailed one, described scenes of passengers storming toward taxis as they were told to get off at a station still in the city. Yandex.Taxi raised its tariffs in the process, he told RT.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been following the situation and has ordered all necessary steps to remedy the situation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists in Moscow.
Railway services in the area have been suspended and are expected to be come back into operation no sooner than Sunday morning, a source in the railway industry told TASS, adding that an overhead system has been dismantled on the track used for trains heading from Moscow.
Russian Railways said it has been diverting passengers trains that were supposed to travel past the scene of the crash.
Additional buses have been laid on to cover for the temporary lack of train services. The buses will run until the operation of the commuter trains in the area is completely restored, Moscow’s Transport Department reported on Twitter.
Train services resumed operation at about 6am Moscow time, the Emergencies Ministry reported.
A young woman, Yulia Kolomytseva, filmed the collision from inside the train as it was sliding down the slope due to a suspected brake failure. The train driver warned the passengers of an imminent collision at least four minutes before it took place, the video reveals.
“We are about to crash, out train is crashing,” Yulia cries out in the video, which has been published on social network VKontakte, moments before the carriage violently shakes and all the lights go out.
Some people had seemingly jumped off the train before the collision, with the woman saying she regretted her decision not to follow suit.
