MURMANSK, December 19. /TASS/. Two people were killed and 27 more, including five children, were injured in the collision of freight and passenger trains in the Kandalaksha district of the Murmansk Region, according to the latest updates from the local authorities.

Dmitry Panychev, a deputy governor of the Murmansk Region and the regional health minister, told TASS earlier in the day: "As of now, we have 27 injured people, among them 22 adults and five children... Unfortunately, we also have one lethal case. Seventeen people were rushed to central district hospitals by ambulance crews."

Panychev added that five people, including two 14-year teenagers, requested medical assistance at local hospitals on their own, while two more people declined hospitalization.

Murmansk Region Governor Andrey Chibis later stated that one of victims in the trains’ collision died in a hospital.

"The most pressing issue at the moment is the provision of medical assistance to all victims," Chibis said in a video-address published on his Telegram channel. "Doctors are now engaged in their fight for the lives of several passengers."

"One passenger died on the way to the hospital. Unfortunately, another passenger died in the hospital a few minutes ago," he said.

The collision involved a freight train and a passenger train, which was en route from Murmansk to St. Petersburg. According to Russian Railways, there were 326 passengers on board the passenger train. The accident derailed 19 train cars, including 15 freight cars. A criminal investigation has been opened into a violation of safety rules.

An emergency management services representative said a malfunction of the freight train was suspected as the cause of the collision. Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said he would personally supervise the provision of medical assisstance to the victims.