Report: 22 dead in Russia train derailment, sabotage a possible cause

Report: 22 dead in Russia train derailment

MOSCOW — A Russian news agency has reported that 22 people have been killed and dozens injured in the derailment of a passenger train headed from Moscow to St. Petersburg.

The state-run railway company, meanwhile, says the derailment Friday could have been the result of sabotage.

ITAR-Tass news agency quoted an unidentified emergency official as saying 22 people were killed and 55 injured. RIA Novosti reported the toll was 21, also citing emergency officials.

Authorities said up to four cars of the express train went off the tracks in an area separating the Novgorod and Tver provinces.

Russian Railways said the cause was not yet determined but one possibility was sabotage, which could mean a bomb or another action that caused the derailment.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

MOSCOW (AP) — A passenger train derailed between Moscow and St. Petersburg late Friday, killing at least nine people and injuring dozens, according to authorities and a Russian news agency.

The three rear cars of an express train from Moscow to St. Petersburg went off the tracks in the Novgorod province, federal authorities said. A spokesman for state-run Russian Railways, Dmitry Pertsev, said that four cars derailed and that there were injuries.

The state-run news agency RIA Novosti quoted an unidentified emergency official as saying preliminary information indicated 10 people were killed and about 130 injured. The same official later said nine bodies had been found at the scene and that the number of injured was about 55, the agency reported.

Pertsev said the cause of the derailment was not known. Russian news agencies cited unidentified officials as saying a small crater was found at the site of the wreck, leading to speculation that it could have been caused by a bomb.

A bomb blast on the same line in 2007 derailed a passenger train and injured 27 people.

The line between Russia’s capital and its No. 2 city is heavily traveled and trains are often crowded.

The derailment occurred near the border between the Novgorod and Tver provinces, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) northwest of Moscow and 155 miles (250 kilometers) southeast of St. Petersburg, authorities said.

Russian news agencies reported that some injured passengers were being taken by train to the next large station up the line and were to be hospitalized in the area, with some being taken to St. Petersburg for medical attention.