KIROV, February 05. /ITAR-TASS/. Emergency workers try to calm down local residents, explaining to people that there is no danger of poisoning, at railway station Pozdino in northern Russia’s Kirov region, where gas condensate cisterns derailed and caught fire.
“People are worried, because they believe that gas is what may poison them, but in fact gas condensate is a liquid and there is no danger of poisoning,” chief press officer in Kirov regional emergency situation department Alexei Neustroyev told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.
In his words, the fire is localized at the incident site, the fire is under control, there is no threat of fire spreading further. In his view, initial fire area has made around 400 meters of railway track. Power lines were broken. “The fire has spread on to several wooden buildings. Meanwhile, residential houses situated nearby were not affected,” he noted.
A local bakery was also suspended and its workers were evacuated over the railway incident. People are provided with food, water and psychological consultations at a local house of culture and a school.
Train derailment incident
The railway incident occurred at around 05:00 Moscow time on Wednesday at railway station Pozdino in Novovyatsky district of the city of Kirov. Thirty-two wagons of the freight train with gas condensate derailed and 12 wagons caught fire.
Four residential houses and several private houses are situated in the incident area, a total of 492 dwellers were evacuated. No one was injured.
A committee investigating the train incident was set up, OJSC Russian Railways (RZD) told Itar-Tass. “Restoration machines are working at the place where several wagons derailed on Gorkovskaya Railway. An inquiry in the railway incident is in progress,” a RZD official said.
The Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under Article 263 Part 1 of Russia’s Criminal Code for violation of railway traffic safety rules and train steering rules over derailment of wagons, spill of gas condensate and liquid catching fire in Kirov Region.
Thirteen long-distance passenger trains, including three international trains Moscow-Beijing, Brest-Novosibirsk and Astana-St. Petersburg were delayed over the railway incident for several hours and more, the press service of Gorkovskaya Railway reported. Trains will go bypassing railway station Pozdino.