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Preliminary hearing of case against 4 accused of Moscow metro crash starts

Today Dorogomilovo District Court of Moscow has started preliminary hearing of a case against chief operating officer of the subcontractor "Spetstekhrekonstruktsiya" Anatoly Kruglov, senior track supervisor of Moscow Underground Railway Valery Bashkatov, section deputy chief of the metro’s repair department Alexei Trofimov and senior track supervisor assistant Yuri Gordov, all serving in Moscow metro. They are charged with offenses under part 3 of article 263 of the RF Penal Code (violations of transportation safety causing the death of two or more persons).

According to investigators, a metro train crashed on 15 July 2014, at around 8:34 AM, on a section between Park Pobedy and Slavyansky Boulevard due to a failure to place haulages between the blades of a switch mechanism located on a ramp to another track under construction. 24 people were killed in the crash and 188 were injured. In addition Moscow metro suffered pecuniary damage of over 331 million rubles. Bashkatov and Trofimov were employed to build the ramp which thy did following the order from Kruglov. Gordov supervised the job.

The version of investigators about guilt of Kruglov, Bashkatov, Trofimov and Gordov is confirmed by the evidence collected. They include conclusions of railway technical, traceological and metallographic, computer inquiries and information expert examination of the train recorders and processing units, statements of the accused, victims, witnesses, specialists and experts, crime scene examination reports and other evidence.

The investigators had enough evidence so the criminal case with the approved indictment was sent to court to be tried on the merits.

At the same time there is an ongoing investigation against 9 people from among senior officials and employees of Moscow metro and commercial structures who organized the building that entailed the crash and lack of control over the building.

At the present time the charges of a crime under part 3 of article 263 of the RF Penal Code have been pressed against head of Track Service of Moscow metro Yuri Silyanov, his deputy Valery Malyshev, supervisor of the 3rd distance of the track of the Track Service Nikolai Melnikov, his deputy Anatoly Kazantsev and electricians that made the round of the 3rd distance Yuri Sheyanov and Natalia Vedenskaya.

The systematic violations allowed by those people and that led to the crash had become possible due to a basic “merger” of a number of Moscow metro senior officials with representatives of commercial building companies involved in metro building for the purpose of making money to the prejudice of passengers’ safety.

Head of Media Relations                                                                                                                         V.I. Markin