Ten killed after rush-hour train derails in Moscow

At least 10 people were killed and 106 injured, 50 of them seriously, when a rush-hour subway train derailed in Moscow, Russian emergency officials said today.

Several carriages left the track in a tunnel after a power surge triggered an alarm which caused the train to stop abruptly.

City Hall officials gave the death toll as four after earlier reports that two, and then four, had been killed.

At least 95 people were taken to hospital, 50 of them in a serious condition, Itar-Tass said quoting the capital’s health department chief, Georgy Golukhov.

Yuri Akimov, a Moscow representative of the emergency services, said in a televised briefing outside Park Pobedy station that about 200 people were evacuated from the train, which was stuck between two stations in west Moscow.

Several people who were seriously injured were taken out of the station and airlifted from the scene.

Photos on social media showed passengers walking along the tracks inside the dimly lit tunnel.

A man with a bloody cut on his brow told Rossiya 24 television outside Park Pobedy station that he felt a jolt and the train abruptly came to a halt.

“There was smoke and we were trapped inside,” the man said. “It’s a miracle we got out. I thought it was the end.”

While accidents are regular occurrences in the Moscow Metro, deadly incidents are rare.