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Moscow subway accident leaves at least 10 dead Moscow subway accident leaves at least 19 dead
(about 2 hours later)
At least 10 people have been killed and 106 injured when a Moscow underground train was derailed between two stations during the morning rush-hour. Fifty of those hospitalised were in a serious condition, a spokesperson for Moscow's health department said. A train derailment deep underground in the Moscow metro caused at least 19 deaths and 100 injuries during Tuesday morning's rush hour in the Russian capital. With around half of the injured in a serious condition, the death toll is likely to rise throughout the day. The driver of the train was reported to be among the dead.
Injured passengers were carried on stretchers out of metro stations and helicopters ferried the most seriously hurt to hospital, said the health ministry. The accident occurred just after 9am local time in the west of the city, between the stations Park Pobedy and Slavyansky Bulvar, one of the deepest points in the Moscow metro system. Initial reports suggest that the accident occurred when a fire alarm system was automatically triggered in error, leading to the driver braking suddenly and one of the carriages coming off the tracks.
Some of the passengers looked stunned after being helped to the surface by emergency services. Eyewitnesses reported that panic took hold as people were thrown around inside the carriages.
A spokesman for the emergencies ministry said a power surge caused the train to stall and several cars to derail between Slaviansky Boulevard and Park Pobedy stations. The Russian website LifeNews posted a video interview with a man who had been on the derailed train: "I got into the train, 20 seconds went by, then the lights went out and everything shook. I was thrown into the middle of the carriage. Panic broke out. Some men took the emergency hammers and smashed their way out. We were accompanied through the tunnel by construction workers. Some of the train was really smashed up, you could see a lot of people were crushed in."
"It braked very hard. The lights went off and there was lots of smoke," a man, his nose bloodied, told Rossiya-24 television. Andrei Petrov, a passenger in the metro train behind the derailed train, said even in his carriage there were some injuries as the train braked suddenly.
"We were trapped and only got out by some miracle. I thought it was the end. Many people were hurt, mostly in the first rail car because the cars ran into each other." "There was no panic, everyone waited in the carriage and waited for what the driver would say. But there was some injuries and blood, and one person broke a rib, I think," he told TV Rain.
Park Pobedy is the deepest metro station in Moscow, 84 metres (275ft) deep, which is hampering rescue efforts. Four hours after the incident, deputy mayor Petr Biryukov said there were still seven passengers trapped inside one of the carriages underground, and rescuers were attempting to cut through metal in order to reach them.
Russian news agencies reported earlier that 20 people had been trapped in one of the damaged carriages. Health officials said at least 106 people were hospitalised, with around half of them in serious condition. Fire engines, ambulances and helicopters could be seen around the exits to the two stations, and several major roads were closed for the day to allow emergency vehicles to move unhindered.
The Moscow mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said there would be a full investigation to determine who was responsible for the incident.
"We will get to the bottom of this situation and the guilty will be punished very harshly," the mayor told Kommersant FM radio station. He added that families of those who died in the tragedy would be paid 1 million roubles (£17,000), while the injured would receive half that.
The Moscow metro is one of the most efficient in the world, with trains running frequently and rarely stopping for signals. A A journey costs 40 roubles (75p) in peak times when the trains aare always rammed with commuters. It is usually the easiest and safest way to get around Moscow, although the system has been targeted by Chechen terrorists before, most recently in 2010 when twin female suicide bombers killed over 40 people in two separate attacks. Russian authorities said there was no sign that Tuesday's incident was anything other than an accident.
Park Pobedy is one of the deepest stations on the metro system, which has complicated the rescue efforts. The escalators are over 100m long and take several minutes to reach the surface.