Saint Petersburg metro driver hailed as hero after blast
ALEXANDER Kaverin, the driver of the Saint Petersburg metro train hit by a deadly explosion, has become an unlikely hero in a tragedy that has claimed 14 lives and injured dozens.
The 50-year-old Russian appeared stunned in the spotlight of state television, describing how he had driven the train through to the next station despite smoke from a blast in one of its carriages.
“I followed the instructions,” Kaverin said.
“We have already had explosions and smart people developed smart instructions.
“At that moment there was no time to be afraid, it was time to work.”
Kaverin said he had learnt that in such situations he needed to drive the train to the next station.
Russian investigators said Kaverin had made the right decision by not stopping the train between two stations, which enabled quick evacuation of injured passengers.
The head of Saint Petersburg’s metro, Vladimir Garyugin, said Kaverin had been a hero.
“In emergency situations people become heroes,” Garyugin said. “It would have complicated the [evacuation] task to carry people out.”
Kaverin, who has worked at the Saint Petersburg metro for 15 years, will be rewarded for his actions, along with another unnamed employee who discovered a second bomb and called in experts to defuse it.
Kaverin, a father of two young children, said he called his family to say he was all right as soon as he had the chance but had not been able to return home on Monday night because of a mob of reporters waiting for him on his doorstep.
“It was a difficult day yesterday,” Kaverin said.
Garyugin said that half an hour before the blast, another metro employee had notified authorities of the presence of an abandoned bag at another station, Vosstaniya Square, which was quickly evacuated.
“He quickly cordoned off the area and called in experts, thwarting another attack,” he said.
Garyugin praised passengers for remaining calm and assisting one another during the evacuation.
Saint Petersburg residents reported being offered free rides by drivers on Monday night and the city’s ground transportation was free for commuters.
The Saint Petersburg metro has since reopened, with authorities stepping up security.
Russian investigators have launched a probe into an “act of terror” and said yesterday they believe they had found remains of a suicide bomber inside one of the carriages.
Kyrgyzstan security services said the attack was staged by a suicide bomber named Akbarjon Djalilov, a naturalised Russian citizen born in southern Kyrgyzstan in 1995.
Russian investigators later confirmed the bomber’s name and said he had also planted a second bomb that was defused by authorities.