Who is among the dead?
...The Nevsky Express, an upscale line popular with Russian business executives and government officials, was carrying hundreds of passengers from Moscow to the northern city of St. Petersburg when its last three carriages went off the rails Friday night.
Authorities said Saturday they have opened a terrorism criminal inquiry. Police and prosecutors swarmed over the disaster site and restricted access to what was reported to be a possible bomb crater....
...Reports on the death toll varied.
Health Minister Tatyana Golikova said at least 26 people were killed, 18 were missing and nearly 100 were injured and hospitalized in the derailment. The Prosecutor General's office said the death toll had risen to 30, with 60 others in the hospital.
President Dmitry Medvedev called for calm, saying "we need there to be no chaos, because the situation is tense as it is."...
...If terrorism is confirmed, it would not be the first time the Moscow-St. Petersburg rail line has been attacked. A 2007 derailment on the line was caused by an explosion and injured 27 people. Authorities arrested two suspects and are searching for a third -- a former military officer.
Across Russia's North Caucasus region, attacks are relatively frequent, including the August suicide bombing of a police station in Ingushetia's capital that killed 25 people and injured 164. A December 2003 suicide bombing of a train near Chechnya killed 44 people.
But outside the volatile southern region, the last fatal terrorist attacks occurred in August 2004, with the twin bombings of passenger aircraft that killed more than 80 people. Those attacks were blamed on Chechen rebels, as was the February 2004 Moscow subway bombing that killed 40 people.
A 2002 hostage-taking at a Moscow theater ended with the deaths of around 130 people, after Russian special forces sprayed a chemical agent into the building before storming it.
Another train derailment in June 2005 left at least 12 injured. The train had been traveling from Chechnya to Moscow.
CSX Train Derailment Near Painesville, Ohio Causes Explosions and Evacuations (click here)
Date Published: Wednesday, October 10th, 2007
...The train derailment occurred about 300 feet away from the Route 44 and Route 2 interchange near Painesville. Witnesses to the accident reported hearing a large blast and seeing a bright white flash at the time of derailment. Flames were said to be shooting at least 30 feet into the air, and plumes of thick black smoke could be seen for miles....
