Four people, who were seriously injured in Friday's derailment of a luxury high-speed Moscow-St. Petersburg train were taken to hospitals in St. Petersburg by an emergencies ministry plane.

"The plane... landed in St. Petersburg at 22:50 Moscow time [19:50 GMT]," an emergencies ministry spokesman said.

A total of 48 people, injured in the crash, are currently in St. Petersburg hospitals, the city's administration earlier said in a statement, citing governor Valentina Matviyenko.

"As of late Saturday, a total of 48 city residents, who were injured in the crash, are currently in the city's hospitals," the statement said. "The injured continue to arrive."

Eight victims were taken to Moscow hospitals as of Saturday, four of them are in serious condition. Over 40 are in hospitals in the city of Tver.

Three carriages of the high-speed Nevsky Express train derailed late on Friday near the town of Yerzovka, near the administrative border of the Novgorod and Tver regions. According to the latest reports, 26 people were killed and 96 injured. A total of 18 people are still listed as missing.

Russia's federal security chief earlier said that the derailment was caused by an explosive device equivalent to 7 kg of TNT.

Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakunin said that a second, weaker bomb had exploded on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. (11:00 GMT) at the site of the attack, but that it had not caused any injuries.

MOSCOW, November 28 (RIA Novosti)