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Cause Of Luxury Train Crash Disputed

By Galina Stolyarova

Staff Writer

kavkazcenter.com / The Associated Press A man identified as Doku Umarov posted on the Kavkazcenter.com site.

Fierce debate continues over the possible cause of the Nov. 27 deadly crash on the Nevsky Express en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg that claimed 26 lives.

According to a new scenario voiced by the Emergency Situations Ministry on Wednesday, a group of terrorists had plotted to hit two trains at the same time. Leonid Belyayev, head of the ministry’s St. Petersburg branch, said another train traveling in the opposite direction on the St. Petersburg-Moscow route missed the explosion by sheer chance, as it happened to be one minute behind schedule.

“One minute behind schedule meant a three-kilometer distance from the scene of the explosion,” Belyayev said, adding there is no reason to question terrorism as being the cause of the crash.

However, Sergei Sokolov, a leading specialist with the Analysis and Security Federal Information Center, said he has serious doubts about the terrorism scenario.

“From the terrorists’ point of view, it would be completely illogical to organize a second explosion,” Sokolov said, referring to what was described as a ‘minor explosion’ at the rescue operations scene on Saturday, Nov. 28.

Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee of Russia’s Chief Prosecutor’s Office was injured by the second blast, which led to suspicions that the explosion was targeted at him or other top-ranking officials present at the scene.

“As someone who often traveled to Chechnya during the military campaigns there, I have seen many craters of blasts caused by explosive devices, so I have a fair idea of how a train explosion can be set up and what sort of crater it would make,” Sokolov said, defending his views on the crash. “The photographs [of the scene] and the other evidence relating to the Nevsky Express crash haven’t convinced me that the terrorism scenario is the right one.”

Chechen rebels claimed responsibility for the killing, rebel web site Kavkaz Center said Wednesday. The attack was part of a broader strategy announced earlier this year by rebel leader Doku Umarov, Kavkaz Center said in a statement attributed to the rebels’ headquarters. Umarov had called to move terrorist attacks and acts of sabotage from the North Caucasus to the rest of Russia.

The rebels pledged to continue attacks in Russia, but promised to limit civilian casualties. They have not produced any proof of their involvement.

Earlier this week, Yevgeny Kulikov, head of the Russian Independent Labor Union of Locomotive Brigades of Railworkers, and a former train driver, suggested the train disaster was more likely to have been caused by a fault on the line or a train malfunction, rather than by an act of terrorism. Kulikov also maintained that the railway authorities tend to economize on safety and repair issues.

Vladimir Yakunin, head of Russian Railways, spoke out against media reports questioning the safety of the railways and expressing doubts as to whether or not the train crash was orchestrated by terrorists. “All these so-called alternative versions sound plain stupid,” Yakunin told reporters in St. Petersburg on Wednesday.

Valery Tanayev, deputy head of the Oktyabrskaya Railway and its chief safety inspector, told reporters on Thursday that the stretch of railway between Moscow and St. Petersburg was in perfect condition, and rejected speculations that the Nov. 27 crash could have been caused by a broken rail.

“Until this tragic incident, everything went smoothly,” Tanayev said. “All safety aspects, including the quality of the rails as well as the operation of traffic lights and the traffic control network were absolutely reliable.”

According to Tanayev, security controls maintained on the Moscow-St.Petersburg route are generally tighter that on other railway lines in Russia. “Our equipment allows controllers not only to monitor anything out of the ordinary in any part of the system, but also to identify potentially hazardous situations which could lead to an accident,” he said. “It is so sensitive that we know which lamp to replace before it burns out.”

Several media reports have linked the train catastrophe to the Chechen guerrilla leader Doku Umarov, while others have speculated that Russian national Pavel Kosolapov, who is wanted by the police for allegedly carrying out a string of terrorist attacks, may be behind the crash.

According to the official investigation, 23 passengers on the Nevsky Express were killed instantly when the train went off the rails. Two more people died in ambulances on the way to hospital, and a woman died in a Moscow hospital days after the crash. One body remains unidentified due to the extent of the injuries sustained, and laboratory tests have to be held to complete identification. Nearly 100 passengers were injured in the crash. Seventy-seven victims of the train disaster who sustained various injuries continue to receive treatment in hospitals in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

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