Avalanche hits Russian passenger train in Urals

CHELYABINSK, February 29 (RIA Novosti) - An avalanche hit a passenger train overnight injuring the driver and blocking the track in the Chelyabinsk district, a South Urals railways spokesman said on Friday.

"The locomotive and the first two carriages, one of which was a freight wagon, took the brunt of the impact. The driver was hospitalized with leg fractures, but no passengers were injured," the spokesman said.

According to the spokesman the locomotive, which was traveling from Novosibirsk, west Siberia, to the central Russian city of Voronezh, was replaced and the tracks cleared allowing the train to continue its journey.

Some routes were affected, but delays were kept to a minimum, the spokesman said.