At least 22 people were killed and 54 injured Friday when a train travelling between the Russian capital Moscow and Saint Petersburg derailed, possibly as a result of an attack, Russian media reported.
Four wagons of the Nevski Express linking the two cities came off the tracks late on Friday evening in the Novgorod region, a railways official told the Ria-Novosti news agency.
Russia's state-run Itar-Tass news agency quoted the emergencies ministry and a railway official as saying that 22 people were dead and 54 others injured.
A unnamed security official was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying that a one metre-diametre (three feet wide) crater was found near the scene of the disaster.
"Witnesses say they heard a loud bang before the accident. This could be proof of an attack," the source said.
A railways official also told Itar-Tass that "an attack is one of the possibilities" being looked at by the police.
In 2007, a bomb on the same line derailed a train, injuring 60 passengers, with Chechen separatist or ultra-nationalist groups suspected.
Russian media said emergency services had been rushed to the scene of the crash, with most of the injured evacuated to local hospitals.
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