20 die in subway derailment, terrorism is ruled out
Print Edition
A RUSH-HOUR subway train derailed in Moscow yesterday, killing 20 people, including a Chinese national, and sending 150 others to the hospital, many with serious injuries, Russian officials said.
The Russian capital’s airports and transit systems have been hit by several terrorist attacks in the past two decades but multiple officials yesterday vigorously dismissed terrorism as a possible cause.
The Moscow Metro is one of the most famous subway systems in the world, known for its palatial interiors with mosaics, chandeliers and marble benches. Park Pobedy, where the derailment occurred, is Moscow’s deepest metro station — 84 meters deep — which was making the rescue particularly difficult. The station serves the vast western park where Russia’s World War II museum is located.
Russian emergency officials initially said several cars derailed in the tunnel after a power surge in the morning triggered an alarm that caused the train to stop abruptly. But Vladimir Markin, spokesman for the Investigative Committee, said a power surge was not the issue and that investigators were considering a fault in the train cars or the sinking of the roadbed among the possible causes.
Of the 150 people reported injured, at least 50 were in grave condition, Moscow health officials said. Over 1,100 people were evacuated from the train, which was stuck between two stations, in a rescue operation that has already lasted at least seven hours.
By late afternoon, rescuers had recovered seven bodies and were working to extract 12 more trapped in two wrecked train cars, said Alexander Gavrilov, deputy chief of the Moscow emergency services. One woman taken from the scene died in a Moscow hospital.
In a video issued by the Emergency Situations Ministry, rescuers could be seen working inside the tunnel where several wrecked train cars looked almost coiled, occupying the entire width of the tunnel.
Workers were trying to force open the mangled doors of one car to retrieve dead bodies.
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin told reporters that unnamed officials will not only be fired but also investigated and charged.
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