MOSCOW, August 12 (Itar-Tass) —— All the cars that overturned in the collision of two freight trains in the Chelyabinsk Region have been lifted and removed from the site, the press service of the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s regional department told Itar-Tass by telephone.
The site has been cleared of the overturned cars. The rail roadbed is being prepared for replacement, an EMERCOM source said.
Now 554 people and four repair trains are working at the site.
On Thursday, two freight trains loaded with coal collided at the 1,766th km of the Simskaya-Yeral section of the Kuibyshev Railway. The accident killed two people. It occurred at 17:09 Moscow time. One of the trains consisted of 67 cars, and the second had 69 cars.
According to the preliminary information, the collision was caused by brake failure of the 67-car train, an official at the Volga transport investigative department said.
A criminal case is opened over the accident on charges of “violation of the railway transport safety regulations that caused two or more deaths “.