Police officers stand guard at the site of a train derailment near the village of Uglovka, about 400 km (249 miles) northwest of Moscow, November 28, 2009. At least 25 people were killed and 95 more injured when a Russian express train came off the rails late on Friday in what the national railway company said could have been a bomb attack. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

     MOSCOW, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Friday's derailment of a Russian express train which has killed at least 26 people was a terrorist attack, a Russian investigator said Saturday, citing fragments of an explosive device found at the crash site.

    "Indeed, this was a terrorist attack," said Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the Investigative Committee within the Russian prosecution system.

A man injured in a train crash arrives at Moskovsky train station in St. Petersburg November 28, 2009. Twenty-two people were killed and 55 more injured when a Russian train crashed on Friday, in what officials said could have been an act of terrorism. Four carriages of the luxury train travelling from Moscow to St Petersburg were derailed near the town of Bologoye some 350 km (200 miles) from Moscow. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    Three cars of an express train traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg went off the tracks at 9:30 p.m. Moscow time (1830 GMT) Friday near the town of Bologoye on the border between the Tver and Novgorod regions, the Emergency Situations Ministry said.

    The 14-car train was carrying 653 passengers and 29 railway personnel, latest statistics showed. There were at least three foreign passengers on the train.

    At least 26 people have been confirmed dead as of 01:00 p.m. Moscow time (1000 GMT) Saturday in this tragedy, with another 18 people unaccounted for and nearly 100 injured, according to Health and Social Development Minister Tatyana Golikova.

    "As of this time, we received reports on 26 deaths, and the fates of 18 other people are so far unknown," Golikova said.

    But a spokeswoman for the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said earlier the death toll had reached 30 and the Emergency Situations Ministry put the fatalities at 25.

    Among the victims was Boris Yevstratikov, head of Russia's Federal Reserve Agency, said the Interfax news agency citing his relatives.

    The Prosecutor General's Office said earlier that a criminal case has been opened on possible terrorist attack and illegal explosives possession charges over the wreck.

    Citing an unnamed investigative source, the Itar-Tass news agency reported earlier that a bomb crater had been found at the crash site, which confirmed the theory that the derailment was triggered by an explosive device.

    The type and power of the explosive device may be determined after a series of examinations, said the source.

    Law-enforcement personnel were currently searching for people involved in the crash, which they believed was premeditated and had been prepared for at least a month.

    Vladimir Yakunin, president of Russian Railways, said that there was objective information indicating that the train was blown up with unidentified explosives, and the incident in plain words was an act of terror.

    Yakunin also said the details of the Friday explosion was quite similar to another accident three years ago.

    "The explosion pattern very much resembles the incident that happened three years ago," said Yakunin, adding that "an unidentified explosive device (planted under the rail track) was set off by unidentified people."

    A bomb attack hit the same line in August 2007, injuring dozens of passengers.

    The Interfax cited an unnamed source with Moscow's law enforcement agencies as saying that a crater one meter in diameter was found near the scene of the accident.

    "Witnesses heard a loud bang before the accident. All this could point to a possible attack," the source said.

    Once rampant attacks in Russia have declined significantly since Moscow largely subdued rebels in the turbulent North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, which has experienced two bloody wars in the past 15 years. The Kremlin formally ended its anti-terrorist operation in Chechnya in April.

    Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has instructed Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu to take all necessary measures to extend assistance to those affected, the Kremlin said.

    The president has also ordered Federal Security Service (FSB) chief Alexander Bortnikov and Prosecutor-General Yuri Chaika to investigate into the cause of the disaster.

    The route between Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia's second largest city, is heavily traveled by tourists and business people.

    Part of the railroad services in the crash area has been resumed in one direction from St. Petersburg to Moscow at around 01:15 p.m. Moscow time (1015 GMT), said the Russian Railways.

    The train speed now was limited to 40 km an hour at the section between Aleshinka and Uglovka, said the Russian Railways, as repair work on the railroad and electricity lines was still continuing.

    The company's President Vladimir Yakunin said earlier that over60 trains carrying some 27,000 passengers were forced to change their route. They are expected to be delayed by at least 8 hours.

    The Chinese embassy in Russia told Xinhua that to date no reports have been received on casualties of Chinese citizens in the accident.

Train derailment a terrorist attack, says Russian investigator 

     MOSCOW, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Elements of an explosive device have been found at the site where a Russian express train derailed late Friday, said a Russian investigator.

    "Indeed, this was a terrorist attack," said Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the Investigative Committee within the Russian prosecution system.  Full story

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