Nine killed in Russia train derailment

At least nine people were killed and dozens injured when a passenger train derailed between Moscow and St Petersburg today, authorities and a Russian news agency said.

The three rear cars of an express train from Moscow to St Petersburg went off the tracks in Novgorod province, federal authorities said.

A spokesman for state-run Russian Railways, Dmitry Pertsev, said four cars derailed and there were injuries.

The state-run news agency RIA Novosti quoted an unidentified emergency official as saying preliminary information indicated that 10 people were killed and about 130 injured.

The same official later said nine bodies had been found at the scene and the number of injured was about 55, the agency reported.

Mr 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 second city is heavily travelled and trains are often crowded.

The derailment occurred near the border between Novgorod and Tver provinces, about 250 miles (400km) north-west of Moscow and 155 miles (250km) south-east 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 treated at hospitals in the area, with some being taken to St Petersburg for medical attention.