Moscow dpa) - At least 22 people were killed and more than 50 passengers were injured Friday in a train derailment between Moscow and St Petersburg, the Itar-Tass agency reported. At least three cars of the express train were derailed, according to a civil rescue official. The cause of the accident was not identified, but several passengers heard a loud boom before the derailment, according to the broadcaster Westi.
Investigators later found a large crater, 1-metre in diameter, in the earth near the city of Bologoye - "as if from an explosion," the report said.
A possible attack was not discounted, one of the investigators told the Interfax agency.
In August 2007, an attack on the same stretch left 60 people injured. The rail stretch between the two large Russian cities is heavily travelled, and the high speed trains are often fully booked.
