MOSCOW, May 20 (RIA Novosti) – More than 150 passengers of the commuter train that crashed in the Moscow Region will be evacuated by helicopter to Moscow, a law enforcement agency source said Tuesday.
“Two heavy Mi-26 helicopters are already present at the accident scene,” the source said, adding that around 160 people, primarily parents and their young children, are expected to be evacuated.
The helicopters will take the unhurt passengers to Moscow, where they will be accommodated in hotels.
“All passengers remain in the train cars. Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov is talking to them now. We are distributing food and water supplies,” the source added.
The Moscow Transport Department earlier told a regional web portal that a broken rail was the cause of the collision.
At least 6 people were killed and 29 injured as a freight train collided with a passenger train west of the Russian capital.
The accident occurred at the railroad haul between Naro-Fominsk and Bekasovo, when a freight train derailed and crashed into a long-distance train en route from Moscow to Chisinau, Moldova.
Some 250 responders were working at the site of the accident.
