A metro train in Moscow erupted into flames on Wednesday, forcing authorities to evacuate around 4,500 people from stations near the Kremlin, a historic complex located in the busy heart of the capital city.
At least 47 sought medical attention and seven commuters were hospitalized for smoke inhalation after a power-cable caught fire around 8:20 a.m. local time, Bloomberg reported.
Curls of black and white smoke spewed into the Okhotny Ryad and Lenin Library metro stations, as firefighters rushed to put out the flames. Psychologists also arrived at the scene shortly after, to help those suffering "from a serious reaction to the stress," as the Russian emergencies ministry told Agence France Presse.
Crowds tried boarding shuttle buses that were so full, many could not get on. In response to the blaze, the Moscow government's transportation department wrote on their website that they had added 30 buses and six trolleybuses to regular routes.
"We're on our way, we've been on our way for three hours already," Ekaterina Goryacheva, 24, a logistics specialist on her way to work told Bloomberg. "Nothing's working, there's not information, nothing."
Ivan Besedin, head of the Moscow metro system, wagered that the fire was caused by a short circuit, in a "complicated technical junction linked to the contact rail."
The Moscow Investigative Committee told AFP that it had full intentions of launching an in-depth search into the cause of the flames.
The fire occurred on one of Russia's busiest metro lines.
Moscow's train system, started by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in 1935, shuttles more than eight million people through about 188 stations per day, according to the Moscow Metropolitan's website.
Service was suspended on the Sokolnicheskaya line from Park Kultury to Komsomolskaya-a route that runs through three of the city's largest stations. Transportation started up once more around 12 p.m., but came to a screeching halt a mere 40 minutes later when smoke was found again in a tunnel.
