Two dead, 27 injured in Murmansk train collision

A file photo of a Murmansk-St Petersburg passenger train. (Olga Maltseva /AFP via Getty Images)

Four passenger coaches derailed and one flipped over after the two trains collided sideways on the tracks at the station near the settlement of Zelenoborsky. 

Two passengers are dead and 27 injured, including five children, regional emergency services informs. Four of the injured are brought to hospital in serious condition. The accident happened Wednesday afternoon.

The passenger train from Murmansk to St. Petersburg had 326 people and most of the injured were in the double-decker coach that flipped over after derailing.

All traffic is currently halted on the important October railway linking the Kola Peninsula to Karelia, Russian Railways informs. Investigations are underway looking at both technical malfunctions in the cold weather and possible human errors.

The wagons on the freight train are marked with PhosAgro, the fertiliser producer operating mines in the Khibiny mountains.

The freight train’s engine driver and his assistant are detained under suspicions of violating safety regulations, TV21 in Murmansk informs Thursday morning.

Related stories from around the North: 

Canada: Crew member in ‘critical but stable’ condition after Iqaluit barge accident on Friday, CBC News

Finland: Regional Council launches Lapland east-west railway study, The Independent Barents Observer

Thomas Nilsen, The Independent Barents Observer

For more news from the Barents region visit The Independent Barents Observer.

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