20 Dead, 180 Injured After Moscow Metro Train Derails During Rush Hour


Twenty people have been reported killed after a Moscow Metro train derailed during the peak morning rush hour. The incident, which happened near Park Pobedy station on Line 3 of the Moscow Metro, has also left at least 180 people injured, reports The Denver Channel.

Russian authorities have confirmed that some of the injuries are of serious nature. The injured have been hospitalized and are undergoing treatment. Park Pobedy station, where the derailment occurred, also happens to be the deepest station on the entire Moscow Metro network and is situated 275feet (84m) below the surface.

Of the people admitted to hospitals, 50 people were reported to be in serious condition. Following the derailment of the train, a rescue operation was underway, at the end of which over 1,100 people were evacuated out of the underground tunnel. The Moscow Metro train had derailed between two stations. The evacuation took seven hours to complete. By noon, rescue workers were able to extricate seven bodies from the wreckage of the crash. They add that 12 more bodies were still trapped inside two cars that were wrecked after the derailment. A woman who was rescued from the train later died at the hospital.

Photos on social media websites posted by travelers on the Moscow Metro later showed passengers walking inside the dimly lit tunnels, towards the nearest exit. Other pictures showed emergency workers trying to open doors of the wrecked carriages.

While the Moscow Metro has been in the past a prime target for terrorists, Russian authorities have vehemently denied that the latest incident is a terrorist attack. That said, it is still unclear how the train derailed and investigations are still on. Reports say that authorities are looking for a defect in the derailed car or a sinking of the roadbed being two of the probable causes.

Famous for its palatial interiors and grand architecture, the Moscow Metro is among the world’s busiest mass transportation systems, with over 6 million daily users. The system has been a target of terrorists in the past. Over 100 people have been killed inside the Moscow Metro since 2000. The last major incident happened in 2010, when there were twin blasts on the same day, killing 40 people.

The Mayor of Moscow has, in the meantime, said that strict action would be taken against officials whose negligence could have led to the accident, via The Independent.

[Images Via USA Today]

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