MOSCOW, July 22 (RIA Novosti) - The head of Moscow Metro Ivan Besedin was fired on Tuesday following the tragic derailment of a train inside a tunnel on July 15, which killed 23 people and wounded more than 160.
“The tragedy wiped out the huge amount of work that has been carried out over the last few years. In line with this, the head of the metro, Besedin, is fired from his position. I name Dmitry Pegov in his place," Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said during a government meeting Tuesday.
According to the mayor, the new head of the capital’s subway will have a tough task of returning the trust of Muscovites to the metro system and “to actively prove that the subway remains the safest means of transport.”
The fatal accident took place on July 15 during the morning rush hour as three cars of a subway train derailed inside a tunnel between the Molodezhnaya and Slavyansky Bulvar stations on the dark blue Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line.
The derailment left 161 injured and 23 dead, according to the Russian Health Ministry. More than 100 people are still in hospitals being treated for their injuries.
Russian Investigative Committee suggested the crash could have been caused by the incorrect installation of a cable that snapped in a rail junction switch. A rail engineer and his assistant were detained on suspicion of breaching transportation safety rules.
