Two killed after tourist train derails and crashes into river
It is one of the worst transport incidents in the country in recent years.
Two people were killed when a train with 232 passengers on board derailed, crashing into a river in northern Russia.
The incident happened so deep in the forest tundra, just south of the Arctic Circle, that people were forced to trek by foot to the nearest station to summon help.
The body of a man was discovered more than 12 hours after the crash under one of nine overturned carriages, which plunged down the embankment of the river.
At least 10 others were seriously injured. Among them is a 14-year-old girl who is in a serious condition in hospital.
She was shown being evacuated on a stretcher from the wreck in the hours after the disaster.
And more than 70 passengers on board needed medical help. Most travellers had been on their way to the Black Sea coast for their summer holidays.
Komi republic governor Vladimir Uyba said that all passengers had been rescued from the derailment site.
But the Tass news agency reported that a search is underway for a missing person after the crash.
They were not accounted during the evacuations and their whereabouts remain unconfirmed.
‘Since the incident location is deep in forest tundra, no vehicles except for trains can reach it,’ the governor said.
‘All passengers, including the injured ones, were moved to the five remaining carriages. Now they have been sent to Inta.’
Ambulances reached the nearest point and took those wounded to hospitals.
Sources told VChK-OGPU Telegram channel that the train driver had pulled the emergency brake after seeing that the track in front of him had been partially flooded.
There had been a critical deterioration in the track in the desolate region, it was reported.
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