Train derails after collision with truck, over 100 injured

More than 100 people were injured on Monday, July 29, when a train derailed in the Volgograd region in southwestern Russia. The train, traveling from Kazan to the Black Sea resort of Adler, crashed into a truck that was on the tracks, the Russian Investigative Committee said. “Nine cars derailed, seven of which overturned“, added the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry on Telegram.

The accident took place four kilometers from the Kotelnikovo railway station, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Footage released by Russian media shows partially deformed red and gray carriages overturned on the tracks, with passengers escaping through the windows, and fire engines. Some 324 rescue workers and 109 vehicles were dispatched to the scene, according to the ministry.

The train was carrying 803 passengers, 140 of whom suffered bruises and scrapes, according to the Russian Railways (RZD). Sixteen people, including a child, were hospitalized, it said. The truck driver “grossly violated road safety rules”entering the railway line “in front of the train which was very close”despite the audible warning, according to RZD. “The train driver applied emergency braking, but was unable to avoid a collision due to the short distance.”the company added. An investigation into violations of transport safety and operating rules has been opened, according to the Russian Investigative Committee.