19 killed, 50 injured in commuter train blast in Stavropol Region today

At least 19 people were killed and 50 were injured when an electric commuter train exploded in the Stavropol Region this morning. The explosion occurred at approximately 7:42 a.m. shortly after the train departed from the Yessentuki railway station. The region's emergency situations administration told Rosbalt a bomb was located under the second car of the electric train, which was headed from Mineral Vody to Pyatigorsk. They said the bomb's explosion was so powerful that it literally split the car in half.

Rescue workers, firefighters, medics and police arrived at the site shortly after the explosion. Injured were sent to hospitals in Yessentuki, Pyatigorsk and Kislovodsk. At the present time, police investigators and rescue personnel are working at the site of the explosion. Deputy Prosecutor General for the Southern Federal District Sergey Fridinsky was on his way to the site. An Emergency Situations Ministry airplane with rescue workers and physicians on board was scheduled to depart the region at 11:30 a.m. this morning.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was immediately informed of the explosion. Prosecution has commenced under the terrorism article of the Russian criminal code. This is the second train bombing in the region in the last three months. On September 3 seven people were injured and 92 injured when a bomb exploded under a train, which was headed from Kislovodsk to Mineral Vody.