Twenty people were injured today when several carriages of a train carrying more than 200 passengers derailed in Russia’s Far North, local authorities said.
The passenger train operated the route from the city of Vorkuta, north of the Arctic Circle, bound for the port of Novorossiysk, on the Black Sea, in the south of the country. It derailed near the city of Inda in the Komi Republic, a sparsely populated and bitterly cold region.
“There were 215 passengers inside the train. Twenty people were injured, of which three are in serious condition,” said the head of the Komi republic, Vladimir Uyba, via Telegram. According to him, only “the tail” of the train derailed.
The cause of the derailment
The national railway company, RZD, stated via Telegram that according to initial information, the cause of the derailment was “swept by water after heavy rain”.
Transport accidents are not uncommon in Russia, especially in the remote and isolated regions of this vast country, which has one of the most extensive railway networks in the world.
Since the beginning of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, several sabotages of railway lines have occurred in Russia and have been attributed by authorities to Ukrainian agents or supporters of Kiev, as the railway is one of the logistical support elements of the Russian military.
Several people were also sentenced to heavy sentences for damaging or destroying electrical infrastructure linked to rail transport.
Sources: AMPE, AFP, Reuters