A Moscow-bound train slammed into the car of a top Chuvashia judge as he tried to speed across the tracks, killing his 18-year-old son and two other male teenagers, police said Monday.
Chuvashia Supreme Court Judge Yury Sidorov, 45, was behind the wheel of his Chevrolet Niva with the three passengers when the car was hit by the Izhevsk-Moscow train at around 11 p.m. Saturday at a crossing near the city of Kanash, located about 75 kilometers from the regional capital, Cheboksary, news reports said.
“The train conductor used the emergency brakes [while the train was traveling] at a speed of 70 kilometers per hour, but the collision couldn’t be prevented. As a result, the car was pushed aside,” a railroad source told Interfax.
Police said the car tried to cross the rails while the warning lights were blinking red and the train was approaching.
All three passengers died at the scene, including the judge’s son and the two teenagers, aged 17 and 18.
The judge was rushed to the hospital with broken bones.
The train resumed its journey after a 22-minute delay.
Car accidents with officials involved are frequent in Russia. In April, Buryatia’s transportation and energy minister, Sergei Chernigovsky, died when his jeep slid under the ice of Lake Baikal. The next day, Deputy Ingush Interior Minister Ruslan Achkarov died when his car collided with a truck.
Altai Governor Mikhail Yevdokimov died in August 2005 when his Mercedes grazed another car and crashed into a tree. The governor’s car was traveling at more than 200 kilometers per hour with flashing lights and a siren.
Kostroma Governor Viktor Shershunov was killed in September 2007 when his Mercedes collided with a Ford sedan traveling the wrong way on a highway outside Moscow.