Dozens injured as 2 trains collide in Moscow

“At that moment 445 passengers and a train crew were on board a long-distance train, and the driver, his assistant and two ticket inspectors were on the inter-urban train,” said the Investigative Committee's spokesperson, Tatiana Morozova, as cited by RIA Novosti. She added that among those who were hospitalized are the crew of the long-distance train and both ticket inspectors.

Conflicting reports about the number of the injured and those who asked for medical assistance in the aftermath of the incident have been incoming. Russian Railways said that at least 50 people sought medical help following the crash, as cited by RIA Novosti.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said that 14 people remain in hospital in the aftermath of the collision.

Foreign citizens are among the victims of the crash, according to the preliminary data obtained by the Emergencies Ministry, its head, Dmitry Puchkov, told journalists, adding that the disrupted railway’s services are expected to be brought into operation by Sunday morning.

Revealing early details of the incident, the head of the Moscow branch of the Emergencies Ministry, Ilya Denisov, has confirmed that the crash was triggered by the decision of the commuter train’s driver to pull the emergency stop to save the life of a person on the tracks.  

“To prevent the train from running over a person, the driver pulled the emergency brake, as result of which the normal operation of the brake system was disrupted,” Denisov said. The driver of the long-distance train, which was closely following the commuter train, also activated the train's emergency brakes, but the distance between the two turned to be too small to avert the collision, he said.

A special commission will be set up to investigate the circumstances that led to the collision, Sergey Zheltov, first deputy head of the Moscow branch of the Emergencies Ministry stated. 

Earlier, Russia’s Investigative Committee announced it is launching a pre-investigation check into the incident.

Meanwhile, on Russian social media contradictory eyewitness reports emerged, with some people claiming that the commuter train, after using its emergency brake, stood still for some 20 minutes, half of that with its lights off, before sliding down the slope and gaining speed.

Three unconfirmed reports on the “Typical Odintsovo” VKontakte group suggested that the train drivers were apparently attempting to solve the brake malfunction, as passengers listened to their exchange via loudspeakers in confusion.

“Everybody rushed to the first carriage. The driver repeatedly warned us to “hold.” The train developed quite a good deal of speed,” a subscriber of the group was cited as saying.

The Moscow Healthcare Department earlier told RIA Novosti that 12 people, including a child, have been admitted to hospitals after the crash. One of the victims was in serious condition.

Fire and rescue brigades were called to the scene and evacuated all the passengers. Some 170 rescuers have been working at the site of the incident, aided with 70 pieces of equipment, including two emergency response trains.

One of the commuter train carriages was torn in two as result of the collision, RIA Novosti reports, citing its own correspondent at the scene.

The bang was “very strong,” an eyewitness of the crash told Moscow 24 TV channel.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been following the situation and has ordered all necessary steps to remedy the situation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists in Moscow.

Railway services in the area have been suspended and are expected to be come back into operation no sooner than Sunday morning, a source in the railway industry told TASS, adding that an overhead system has been dismantled on the track used for trains heading from Moscow.

Russian Railways said it has been diverting passengers trains that were supposed to travel past the scene of the crash.

Additional buses have been laid on to cover for the temporary lack of train services. The buses will run until the operation of the commuter trains in the area is completely restored, Moscow’s Transport Department reported on Twitter.