Over 30 people hurt in Moscow metro accident - emergency services
MOSCOW. July 15 (Interfax) - Over 30 people were hurt as three cars of a Moscow metro train were derailed on the "blue" line, the Moscow emergency services told Interfax.
"According to tentative reports, more than 30 people were hurt. Over 20 ambulance vehicles and rescuers rushed to the Slavyansky Boulevard station," the source said.
He confirmed that "three cars came off the rail but did not capsize" due to a drop in contact wire voltage.
Sixty-six buses were assigned for the transportation of passengers.
The Moscow metro official website said there was smoke on the "blue" line before the cars came off the rail.
"There was smoke at the Park Pobedy station and contact wire voltage was turned off on the Kiyevskaya-Molodyozhnaya stretch," says a report posted on the Moscow metro official website.
"A train came off the rail on the Park Pobedy - Slavyansky Boulevard stretch at 9:25 a.m. Passengers are being evacuated from the Park Pobedy and Slavyansky Boulevard stations," the report said.
Moscow emergency situations department spokesman Viktor Biryukov said earlier an eyewitness reported sudden braking of a train on the Slavyansky Boulevard - Park Pobedy stretch at 8:39 a.m. Firemen arrived at the scene at 8:45 a.m. It appeared that a sharp drop in the voltage in the tunnel between the stations erroneously set off the alarm system, which caused the sudden braking of the train.
An Interfax correspondent reported the incident caused the amassment of a large number of passengers on the "blue" line. The passengers were offered to use ground means of transportation to change to the Filevskaya metro line.