3 killed and dozens injured in northern Russia when a passenger train derails

MOSCOW — A passenger train derailment in northern Russia killed three people and injured dozens, officials said Thursday.

The 14-carriage train derailed Wednesday night in Russia’s northern republic of Komi, state rail company Russian Railways said in a statement, with nine carriages coming off the tracks. About 40 people were injured, 10 of them requiring hospitalization, state news agencies reported.

The body of the third victim, a 16-year-old girl, was found Thursday afternoon, according to the Investigative Committee, Russia’s main agency for investigating possible criminal cases.

The cause of the derailment of the train, which was carrying 232 passengers, was likely that heavy rains had washed out a portion of the tracks, the railway company said. It was not clear whether crew negligence was a factor.

The train was headed to the southern city of Novorossiysk from Vorkuta, a coal mining town in the north of Komi, Russian Railways said.

Russian Railways has promised to pay 2 million rubles (just under $22,900) to the families of each of those killed in the derailment on top of the 2.025 million-ruble (about $23,100) insurance payout they will get. The injured who were hospitalized will get 1 million rubles (about $11,400) each, and those who sought outpatient medical assistance will receive 500,000 rubles (about $5,700), the company said.