Ten dead in Moscow subway derailment
At least 10 people have been killed and 106 injured, 50 of them seriously, after a rush-hour subway train derailed in Moscow, Russian emergency officials said today.
Several carriages left the track in a tunnel after a power surge triggered an alarm which caused the train to stop abruptly.
Yuri Akimov, a Moscow representative of the emergency services, said in a televised briefing outside Park Pobedy station that about 200 people were evacuated from the train, which was stuck between two stations in west Moscow.
The capital’s health department chief, Georgy Golukhov, told Russian television that one person is still trapped in a wrecked carriage but he is alive.
Several people who were seriously injured were taken out of the station and airlifted from the scene.
Photos on social media showed passengers walking along the tracks inside the dimly lit tunnel.
A man with a bloody cut on his brow told Rossiya 24 television outside Park Pobedy station that he felt a jolt and the train abruptly came to a halt.
“There was smoke and we were trapped inside,” he said. “It’s a miracle we got out. I thought it was the end.”
Park Pobedy is the deepest metro station in Moscow, 275ft (84m) below ground, which was making the rescue effort particularly difficult.
While accidents are regular occurrences in the Moscow Metro, deadly incidents are rare.
