None hurt as Moscow metro tunnel crashes onto train

MOSCOW, Mar 19 (Reuters) All passengers escaped unhurt today after part of the tunnel roof in Moscow's underground system came loose and fell onto a moving train, emergency services today said.

''All the passengers have been evacuated. The evacuation is complete. There were no casualties,'' said Emergencies Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov.

''There are two groups of workers down in the tunnel and they are clearing up the rubble, and cutting through the reinforced concrete,'' he said.

Emergency services said a section of concrete had fallen from the tunnel roof as a train was travelling between stations north of central Moscow and pierced one of the carriages.

Officials had said the affected carriage caught fire but Russian news agencies, citing other officials, later said there had been no fire.

Train services were suspended on the affected line and stations were shut, a Reuters witness said.

The accident happened on the Zamoskvoretskaya line, about six km north of Moscow's city centre. The train was travelling between the Voikovskaya and Sokol stations, heading south, officials said.

Moscow's subway system is used heavily. There are fewer passengers at weekends than during the week but there are still usually at least a dozen people in each carriage.

Russian news agencies quoted emergency services as saying they were investigating whether building work on the surface had caused the tunnel to give way.

REUTERS DKS KN1909