The train derailed near the town of Inta in the Komi Republic. (Representative)
Moscow:
At least 20 people were injured Wednesday after a passenger train derailed in Russia’s far north, authorities said.
The train went from the city of Vorkuta, above the Arctic Circle, to the port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea in the south of the country.
It derailed near the small town of Inta in the Komi Republic, which has a harsh climate and is sparsely populated.
Vladimir Uyba, the head of the Komi Republic, said there were 215 passengers on board the train, adding: “20 people were injured, three of them in serious condition.”
He said the train’s last five carriages derailed, but authorities did not immediately give a reason for the cause of the accident.
Uyba said he flew to the scene of the accident.
Images published by Russian state media showed several carriages lying on their sides in a ditch near a forest.
It takes almost five days for the Vorkuta-Novorossiysk train to complete its journey.
Transport accidents are not uncommon in Russia, but less so on the railways, where the country, the largest in the world, has a vast rail network.
Since Moscow launched its Ukraine offensive, Russia has suffered a wave of sabotage on its railways, which are used by the military to transport equipment to Ukraine.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
