Two rail technicians have been detained over a fatal crash on the Moscow metro that killed 22 people and injured more than 150 others, investigators said Wednesday.
The suspects have already been questioned, and investigators plan to charge them later Wednesday, according to a statement posted on the Investigative Committee website.
The case against the two men — identified as Valery Bashkatov and Yury Gordov — relates to an accident that took place Tuesday morning between the western Slavyansky Bulvar and Park Pobedy metro stations on the Dark Blue Line.
Both men were responsible for overseeing work carried out to monitor switch mechanisms on the line between the two stations, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told the Interfax news agency.
"The work was carried out improperly … resulting in the train coming off the rails, the deaths of 21 people and various injuries to more than 150 passengers," the website statement said.
Markin added that investigators were planning to speak to a subcontractor and the head of a construction firm that had carried out work on the metro.
"The Investigation Committee intends to identify and prosecute absolutely everyone involved in this tragedy, from those who performed manual work to top officials meant to supervise and ensure the full transportation safety requirements of the Moscow Metro," Markin was quoted as saying by Interfax.
The crash, the causes of which are still being investigated, resulted in the largest number of casualties of any accident throughout the entire 79-year history of the city's metro.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this article identified one of the suspects as Yury Gorduanov instead of Yury Gordov.
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