Seven dead as two bridges in Russia collapse after explosions

Glasgow Times

2 days ago

In one of the incidents, seven people were killed and dozens were injured.
The first bridge, in the Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine, collapsed on top of a passenger train on Saturday, causing the casualties.
Hours later, officials said a second train was derailed when the bridge beneath it collapsed in the nearby Kursk region, which also borders Ukraine.
Rescue workers at a damaged bridge in Russia's Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine (Moscow Interregional Transport Prosecutor's Office telegram channel/AP)
In that collapse, a freight train was thrown off its rails on to the road below as the explosion collapsed the bridge, acting governor Alexander Khinshtein said on Sunday.
The crash sparked a fire, but there were no casualties, he said.
Russia's investigative committee, the country's top criminal investigation agency, said in a statement that explosions had caused the two bridges to collapse, but did not give further details.
Photos posted by government agencies from the scene in the Bryansk region appeared to show train carriages ripped apart and lying amid fallen concrete from the collapsed bridge.
Other footage on social media were apparently taken from inside vehicles on the road, which had managed to avoid driving on to the bridge before it collapsed.
Seven people were killed when the bridge collapsed (Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service telegram channel/AP)
In the past, some officials have accused pro-Ukrainian saboteurs of attacking Russia's railway infrastructure.
The details surrounding such incidents, however, are limited and cannot be independently verified.
In a statement on Sunday, Ukraine's military intelligence, known by the Ukrainian abbreviation GUR, said a Russian military freight train carrying food and fuel had been blown up on its way to Crimea.
It did not claim the attack was carried out by GUR or mention the bridge collapses.
The statement said Moscow's key 'artery' with the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region and Crimea has been destroyed.
Russian forces have been pushing into the region of Zaporizhzhia in eastern Ukraine since Moscow's invasion in February 2022.
They took Crimea and annexed it in 2014.