MOSCOW

Two people were killed and 40 others injured when a passenger train derailed in the Russian northern region of Komi, the Russian Railways company said on Thursday.

Two bodies were found at the site of the derailment of the Vorkuta-Novorossiysk passenger train, the company said in a statement on Telegram.

The Russian Health Ministry said 40 people sustained injuries in the accident, seven of them critically. Initially, the Russian Railways reported 70 injuries, however, most of them turned out to be bruises and cuts.

The train had 14 cars, out of which nine were overturned. The Russian Railways said there were a total of 232 people on the train.

The exact cause of the accident remains unclear, but it may have been triggered by heavy rainfall washing away the railway embankment.