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Traffic restored on Trans-Siberian railway after Saturday derailment

Twenty-one freight cars loaded with coal derailed
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

IRKUTSK, January 13 (Itar-Tass) – Traffic has been restored on the Trans-Siberian Railway where over 20 freight cars loaded with coal derailed on Saturday.

The Irkutsk department of the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations reports that railord workers managed to re-open traffic in both directions on one track at 20:50 on Saturday, almost ten hours after the derailment. More than 100 people and 28 equipment units were mobilized to liquidate its consequences. About 150 meters of the railway track were restored.

The accident occurred on the 5,337th kilometer of the Trans-Siberian Railway at 05:10 Moscow time on January 12. Twenty-one freight cars loaded with coal derailed. As a result, the freight train collided with a locomotive that was passing by in the reverse direction.

A criminal investigation is under way.