22 die, 55 injured in Nevsky Express train derailment.

TVER, November 28 (Itar-Tass) -- The derailment of the Nevsky Express
passenger train on Friday evening on the border between the Tver and
Novgorod Regions claimed 22 lives, the Emergency Situations Ministry told
Itar-Tass. Fifty five others were injured.

The Russian railways company RZD said one of the versions of the
incident was a terrorist attack.


.PGO IC against hasty conclusions regarding Nevsky Express crash.

MOSCOW, November 28 (Itar-Tass) -- The Prosecutor-General's Office
investigation Committee has warned against hasty conclusions regarding the
causes of Friday evening's crash of the Nevsky Express train.
"Saying something about the versions of the incident will be possible
only when the investigators have begun examining the scene," PGO IC
spokesman Vladimir Markin told Itar-Tass.
Earlier, the Russian railways company RZD told Itar-Tass a terrorist
attack was named among the likely causes.

.22 die, 54 injured in Nevsky Express train derailment.

TVER, November 28 (Itar-Tass) -- The Nevsky Express passenger train's
crash on Friday evening on the border between the Tver and Novgorod
Regions claimed 22 lives, the Emergency Situations Ministry told
Itar-Tass. Fifty-four passengers were injured.
The casualties were revealed| at an urgent conference at the national
crisis situations management center Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu
called after midnight. Taking part in it were Interior Minister Rashid
Nurgaliyev and Health and Social Development Minister Tatyana Golikova.
The lists of all passengers who were inside the derailed coaches have
been drawn up. Evacuation is in progress. So far 30 injured have been
taken to Bologoye, Alyoshinka and Borovichi, and another twenty, sent by
train to Uglovka.
A Russian railways company RZD spokesman has told Itar-Tass a special
train has been dispatched to pick up passengers from crashed Nevsky
Express. It will take all to St. Petersburg.
According to information available at this point, four coaches
derailed, law enforcers said. The incident occurred in a forest area. The
track is hard to reach and mobile telephone communication there is poor.
"In the course of preliminary examination a small crater was spotted
under one of the rails. Its origin is being investigated," a source said.
The RZD company told Itar-Tass a terrorist attack was on the list of
the likely versions.
In the meantime, the Prosecutor-General's Office Investigation
Committee has warned against hasty conclusions.
"Saying something about the versions of the incident will be possible
only when the investigators have begun examining the scene," PGO IC
spokesman Vladimir Markin told Itar-Tass.
The crash of train 166 Nevsky Express (Moscow-St. Petersburg) occurred
between Alyoshinka and Uglovka, on the 285th kilometer of the railway, 20
kilometers away from Bologoye. The train left Moscow at 18:30 and its
arrival in St. Petersburg was expected at 23:00 Moscow time.
RZD President Vladimir Yakunin has left for the scene of the incident.
Rescue workers and law enforcers have been working at the site for
sometime already. The Transport Ministry has created a crisis management
center to look into the causes of the disaster. Transport Minister Igor
Levitin heads the center himself. The press-service of the Russian
Transport Ministry has told Itar-Tass a special team under Deputy
Transport Minister Andrei Medosekov has left for the train crash site. It
includes the chief of the federal railway transport agency Roszheldor
Valery Petrakov and acting chief of the transport watchdog Rostransnadzor
Alexander Kasyanov.
President Dmitry Medvedev has been briefed on the emergency on the
Moscow-St. Petersburg railway in the Tver Region.
The Kremlin's press-service has said Medvedev has instructed Emergency
Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu to take all the necessary measures to
provide assistance to those affected.
Also, the head of state instructed the chief of the federal security
service FSB Alexander Bortnikov and Prosecutor-General Yuri Chaika to
properly investigate the incident.
The Emergency Situations Ministry has opened hot lines in St.
Petersburg and Moscow for those who may wish to get last-minute
information about the train crash.
"The telephone in Moscow is 8-495-626-37-07 and the number in St.
Petersburg, 8-812-718-25-16. Those who need the latest information about
the emergency and psychological assistance are welcome to use both," the
Emergency Situations Ministry said.
The Oktyabrskaya Railway has opened its own hot line, too. Callers
using it can get the latest information about the arrival of Nevsky
Express passengers in St. Petersburg. The chief of the railway's public
relations service, Viktor Korsakov told Itar-Tass the hot line numbers are
8-812-457-49-05 and 8-812-436-88-13. Special teams of medics and
psychologists are preparing to meet the arriving passengers and members of
their families at St. Petersbug's Moskovsky railway station.
This is not the first incident involving Nevsky Express. On August 13,
2007 the very same train was stopped by the explosion of a makeshift
explosive device planted under the rail track between Burga and Krasnenka,
the Novgorod Region. Sixty passengers then required medical assistance.
The Nevsky Express service was introduced in 2001. The train can
travel at a maximum speed of 200 kilometers per hour. Its time en route is
4 hours 30 minutes. The standard coaches seat 68 passengers, and coaches
with extra services have eight compartments seating six passengers each.
The engine is a Czech-manufactured CS-200. The 57-tonne coaches are
25.5 meters long and a little over three meters wide. The
manufacturer-declared life cycle of Nevsky Express coaches is 40 years.