MOSCOW, May 20. / ITAR-TASS /. The cause of the train accident near Moscow was the disconnection of container freight train which damaged passenger train, Russian Investigative Committee representative  Vladimir Markin told ITAR- TASS.

"According to preliminary data of the investigation, container cut off on the running line Bekasovo - 1 —  Naro-Fominsk from the freight train en route to Moscow. It fouled Chisinau passenger train damaging the three carriages. Death toll in trains’ collision rose to 5 people and 25 people were taken to hospitals," said Markin.

Criminologists from Investigation Committee are expected to aid in the inquiry accident near Moscow.

The Interior Ministry reported that there were about 400 people in the passenger train as the total number of tickets sold stood at 394.

Vadim Andronov Head of the Naro-Fominsk district, Moscow Region Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered Vice-Premier Olga Golodets to make everything necessary to help the people affected.

 

Investigative Committee files criminal case

Upon the train collision, a criminal case under Part 3, Article 263 of the Criminal Code of Russia has been filed (“Violation of transport safety rules and exploitation of railway transport, which led to death of two or more people by inadvertence”).

The investigators are examining the site of the accident. Circumstances of the collision are being specified.

 

What happened

A passenger train collided with a freight train between the stations of Bekasovo and Naro-Fominsk, located on the Kiev-bound railway some 50 kilometers (34 miles) from Moscow’s center at around half past noon Moscow time (8:30 GMT) on Tuesday.

All in- and out of Moscow southwest railway traffic has been suspended while rescuers and medics work at the scene of the tragic accident.

Three helicopters, 30 ambulances and cars of the Disaster Medicine and Emergency Situations Center are underway to the site of the accident. “All medical institutions of the neighboring districts are ready to receive the injured,” the press service of the Public Healthcare Ministry in the Moscow Region reported. Public Healthcare Minister of the Moscow Region Nina Suslonova visited the scene.