MOSCOW, May 20 (RIA Novosti) – A passenger train en route from Moscow to Chisinau that collided with a freight train in the Moscow region leading to the deaths of at least five passengers, will continue on its journey as planned, a representative of the Moscow regional government said Tuesday.
"The rescue operation is not over yet, people remain in the carriages. We are still to send off this train. We will complete everything in the nearest future," Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Region Government Dmitry Pestov said, as shown by the Russia 24 television channel.
A 16-carriage freight train ran into the passenger train due to a broken rail at the railroad haul between Naro-Fominsk and Bekasovo earlier on Tuesday, killing 5 people and injuring another 20, including one child, according to official data.
Two passenger train carriages, each of which had 45 people onboard, were crushed in the accident. All the injured people were riding in the same carriage, according to the Moscow region's Health department.
The train remains at the site of the accident, where nine emergency teams and three medical helicopters, along with 250 people including investigators, police, emergency officers, doctors and psychologists, were sent to clean and help the injured.
Representatives of the Moldovan embassy in Russia have also left for the site.