Bridges collapse in Russia, derailing trains and killing at least 7
The incidents took place in the Bryansk and Kursk regions bordering Ukraine
At least seven people were killed and 69 injured when two bridges were blown up in separate Russian regions bordering Ukraine ahead of planned peace talks aimed at ending the three-year-old war in Ukraine, Russian officials said on Sunday.
A highway bridge over a railway in the Bryansk region was blown up at 10.50pm on Saturday night, just as a passenger train carrying 388 passengers to Moscow was passing underneath, Russian investigators said.
Just four hours later, a railway bridge over a highway was blown up in the neighbouring Kursk region, showering the road with parts of a goods train, the investigators said.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, linked the incidents and said explicitly that both bridges were blown up.
In the Bryansk region, social media pictures and videos showed passengers trying to climb out of smashed carriages in the dark. Part of the passenger train was shown crushed under a collapsed road bridge, and wrecked carriages lay beside the lines.
“The bridge was blown up while the Klimovo-Moscow train was passing through with 388 passengers on board,” Alexander Bogomaz, the region’s governor, told Russian television.