By Zulfia Bainekeeva
On April 19, at about 6:00pm (Astana time) two last cars of a passenger train performing Almaty - Atyrau route derailed in Atyrau Oblast.
A scene eyewitness told us the accident happened near Sagiz and Zhanterek stations.
13 cars derailed, 7 of them laid down sideways. 26 injured passengers were taken to the Makat regional hospital, 6 of them hospitalized in Atyrau hospital. Others were released after receiving first aid.
Train #041T (the same train has a number 041X when it travels back from Atyrau to Almaty) is dubbed “the Chinese” (“Kitaisky”) by commoners not to confuse with high-speed “Spanish” ("Ispansky") trains travelling on the same route.
From Miyaly village 3 ambulance cars were sent and a local company Kaynarmunaygaz sent 7 buses to transport all passengers to Makat, 120km from Atyrau.
On April 20, the RoK Ministry of Emergency Situations and Atyrau Oblast government held a briefing to announce an official report on the incident.
Salimzhan Nakpayev, Deputy Governor of Atyrau Oblast said that on April 19, at 5:55pm a passenger train derailed in the Kyzyl-Koga District en route from Almaty to Atyrau. The train had 19 cars, of them 16 passenger. In total 13 cars derailed, 7 of them laying down sideways. It was carrying 586 passengers and 26 car attendants.
15 buses were referred to the place for evacuation with medical workers and 160 law enforcement officers.
26 injured passengers were taken to Makat regional hospital, 6 of them were hospitalized in Atyrau hospital. Others after receiving first aid were released.
The head of Health Department Mendykhan Utepkaliyev says a woman had serious head injuries and other woman had broken ribs in the derailment. Both were operated and their conditions are now reported stable, but critical. Two emergency helicopters transported 8 people to the regional hospital: 5 adults and 3 children (of which the youngest is 1 month of age).
4 adults were hospitalized and a baby with mother after medical examination were let go home. Other children received no injuries. In total 33 persons sought medical help.
As the result of the accident 9 passenger and 34 cargo trains were delayed.
Given the scale of the incident - it was a miracle that there were no fatalities.
The reason for the derailing and the amount of damage caused will be later reported by an investigation team. Under a rule they have only three days for that.