More than 100 people were injured and at least one died after passengers of a speeding tram in Russia were thrown from the vehicle and scattered across the road after its brakes failed.
The runaway tram reportedly went out of control at 7:35 a.m. when it gained speed and threw commuters through its broken doors onto the busy Logovaya Highway.
It eventually crashed into another tram in front of it, leaving more than 100 people injured in the Russian city of Kemerovo and several of them fighting for their lives; It is understood there are injuries on both trams.
Terrifying images show the tram taking a curve at high speed with its doors open.
Two passengers are thrown about 50 feet onto a busy road where alert drivers came to a screeching halt in wet conditions.
More than 100 people are injured and at least one dead after passengers of a speeding tram in Russia were thrown from the vehicle and scattered across the road after its brakes failed.
The runaway tram spun out of control as it gained speed and threw commuters through its broken doors onto a busy road.
It was revealed that a third passenger was thrown off the moving tram after desperately holding on before being thrown.
They were seen motionless on the road and at least three passengers are in “serious” condition in hospital.
The number of injured quickly rose to 102 in the hours after the horrific incident, Interfax reported, and at least one person has been confirmed dead.
Seven of those injured in the shocking accident were children.
Shot media said the tram had already collided with a car before speeding away at 100 km/h and that driver Alexandra Marieva, 23, was evidently unable to brake.
According to reports, she had been working as a driver since October last year.
Before undergoing emergency surgery, Marieva told her parents that “the brakes failed” on the tram.
He tried to use the emergency brake and cut off the power supply to the tram, but it moved forward uncontrollably, he said.
It finally collided with another tram that was traveling ahead, leaving more than 100 injured in the Russian city of Kemerovo.
Transportation in the area was ‘paralyzed’ after the horrible incident
The number of injured quickly rose to 102 hours after the horrific incident, Interfax reported, and at least one person has been confirmed dead.
A local report in Kemerovo, an industrial city in Siberia, said: “The accident occurred early in the morning on the Logovaya highway.”
The driver suffered multiple fractures and a head injury and is now in hospital.
A passenger on the stopped tram watched as the runaway tram “approached downhill at a frightening speed.”
“The people who were on the other tram suffered the most,” said passenger Natalya, who says she had to wait 40 minutes for an ambulance.
A local report in Kemerovo, an industrial city in Siberia, said: “The accident occurred early in the morning on the Logovaya highway.
‘According to preliminary data, the tram that was traveling on route No. 10 suffered a brake system failure, causing the vehicle to accelerate enormously.
“As a result, on a curve, the tram doors were torn off and two people flew out.”
A criminal case has been opened for the nightmare accident that occurred at 7:35 in the morning on tram route 10.
Alexandra Marieva, 23, who was driving the tram, said she tried to use the emergency brake and cut off power to the tram, but it sped forward uncontrollably.
A criminal case is opened for the nightmare accident that occurred at 7:35 in the morning on tram route 10
There have been other examples of failed tram controls, including in St. Petersburg, where the tram system is being prepared to operate driverless under AI control.
“As a result of the collision, there are victims receiving the necessary medical care,” said a Kemerovo official.
Transport in the area was “paralyzed” after the horrible incident.
The mayor of Kemerovo admitted that the “wear and tear” of its public transport system has reached dangerous levels.
The trams “are obsolete, they are up to 40 years old,” he said.
One comment on a local story said: “Why is the Russian government spending a fortune on the war in Ukraine when our public services are so insecure?”
The AKSM-60102 tram was manufactured in neighboring Belarus and was 16 years old.
It underwent a full maintenance on June 2, according to reports.