The night collapse of two bridges in the Russian regions that border Ukraine that killed seven people were caused by explosions, Russian officials said on Sunday, treating them as “acts of terrorism.”
In the Bryansk region of Russia, an explosion caused a bridge from the Collapsara road to a railroad line on Saturday night, derailing a passenger train that was heading to Moscow and killed seven people, authorities said.
A separate rail bridge in the neighboring region of Kursk was exploited hours later in the early hours of Sunday, derailing a cargo train and hurting the driver.
The authorities did not say who was behind the explosions, but the investigators said that a criminal investigation was underway.
Russian president, Vladimir Putin, was informed about the incidents throughout the night, said the Kremlin.
The videos published on the social networks of the Bryansk region showed rescuers climbing by the chassis shattered from a train that belongs to the Russian national operator Railways, while the screams could be heard in another video.
“There are seven dead as a result of the collapse of a bridge on the railroad tracks,” said Alexander Bogomaz, governor of the Bryansk region, in Telegram. At least 71 people were injured, 44 of which they were in the hospital, he told the journalists.
“Last night … in the Zheleznogorsk district, a bridge collapsed as it passed a cargo locomotive. Part of the train fell on the road under the bridge,” said Kursk region governor Alexander Khinshtein, on Telegram.
“One of the locomotive drivers suffered leg injuries, and the entire crew was taken to the hospital,” he said.
‘Illegal interference’
There were no immediate comments from Russian researchers about who was behind the explosions.
A spokeswoman for the Russian Research Committee said the incidents had been “classified as acts of terrorism,” without elaborating.
But the main legislator of the ruling party Andrey Kishas blamed Ukraine, describing him as a “terrorist enclave.”
Russia has been beaten by dozens of sabotage attacks since Moscow launched its large -scale military assault on its neighbor in 2022, many pointing to its vast rail network.
Kyiv says that Russia uses railroads to transport troops and weapons to their forces fighting in Ukraine.
A AFP The journalist saw the family waiting for them to reach the loved ones in the Bryansk region at a station in the center of Moscow.
“Russian Railways said those who had survived would come here,” said businessman Sergey Trinkinets, 30. “My dad finally got in touch. He said he had some bruises and that he didn’t feel very good, so I came to meet him.”
In a video posted on social networks, supposedly taken at the incident scene in the Bryansk region, someone shouting could be heard when face -to -face witnesses rushed to find help.
“How did the bridge collapsed? There are children there!” You can listen to a woman screaming in the video.
Russia’s emergency ministry said a team was in the place in the Bryansk region, while Russian Railways said he had sent repair trains to the scene.
The incidents occurred on the eve of a possible meeting between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Istanbul, in the midst of a diplomatic impulse led by the United States to finish the three -year conflict.
The three -year assault from Moscow to Ukraine has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths. Russia currently occupies around a fifth of her neighbor.
