Two employees of the Moscow subway were detained by investigators yesterday in the wake of a deadly rush-hour derailment.
The accident inside a tunnel on Tuesday killed at least 20 people and hurt 136, many with serious injuries. More than 1,100 people were evacuated from the train, which was stuck between two stations in Moscow’s west, in a rescue operation that lasted more than 12 hours.
The Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement yesterday that it had detained the head of the track department and his deputy. Investigators said a new rail switch at the point where the train left the tracks was not properly installed during repair work in May and was attached to the rail by a single, 3mm wire.
Photo: Reuters
There is another line under construction nearby and the switch was to direct to the trains to a new tunnel once the line is launched.
The two men have been questioned and investigators are preparing to file unspecified charges against them, committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said.
The Russian capital’s airports and transit systems have been a prime target for terrorists over the past two decades, but multiple officials vigorously dismissed terrorism as a possible cause.
In recent months, subway workers have complained of declining safety standards in the system and disorganized measures for aiding stricken passengers.
After the worst accident ever to hit one of the world’s busiest subways, Russian television on Tuesday described scenes of chaos and panic on the capital’s famed system, saying passengers fell like dominoes when the train traveling at 70kph braked abruptly and three carriages derailed and crumpled.
Rescue teams combed through the mangled metal carriages throughout the day, in attempts to extricate bodies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is on a trip to Brazil, ordered a criminal probe into the tragedy that put a huge strain on the city of about 12 million and snarled traffic on its notoriously clogged roads amid a heatwave.
Sirens wailed as dozens of ambulances rushed to help treat the wounded and helicopters buzzed overhead to evacuate those with serious injuries, journalists said at the scene outside the Park Pobedy metro station in western Moscow.
Russian Minister of Health Veronika Skvortsova told reporters that 21 people had died, but other reports put the toll at 22.
About 130 people were hospitalized and 42 were in intensive care, the head of Moscow’s health department, Georgy Golukhov, told journalists.
At least two foreign nationals — a Tajik and a Chinese — were among the dead, he said.
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, led a prayer to honor the people killed, while Moscow City Hall called for a day of mourning yesterday.
The authorities said more than 1,000 people had to be evacuated on Tuesday. Passengers said smoke quickly spread through the carriages and rescue workers treated commuters with oxygen.
A witness, a young man in a polo shirt, said in televised comments: “I got into the carriage and after about 20 seconds, the light went out and the train was just pulled apart. I was just thrown into the center of the carriage. Panic erupted.”
“We climbed out of the carriages and we saw a blockage, men took hammers and pliers and broke it down and we walked on. The train was smashed, the chassis was just pulled apart,” the man said.
Television footage showed rescue workers carrying bloodied passengers away on stretchers while paramedics treated some on nearby grass verges.
Sobbing passengers, some with bandages around their heads, sat on chairs outside the station.
“This is the most serious man-made disaster in the Moscow underground in its entire history ... apart from terrorist attacks,” infrastructure expert Alexei Khazbiyev said.
He accused the authorities of not doing enough to modernize the system, saying it could not cope with passenger numbers.
“We are paying for poor quality and dangerous services,” he said.
Families of those killed would receive 1 million rubles (US$29,000) in compensation, while those injured would get up to 500,000 rubles, authorities said.
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