MOSCOW, June 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A bridge collapsed overnight and derailed a train in Russia’s Kursk region, the governor said Sunday, hours after a similar incident killed at least seven people in another region bordering Ukraine.
“Last night… in the Zheleznogorsk district, a bridge collapsed while a freight locomotive was passing. Part of the train fell onto the road below the bridge,” Alexander Khinshtein said on Telegram.
Seven people were killed and dozens injured after bridges in two separate Russian regions bordering Ukraine collapsed overnight, officials said on Sunday, with rail authorities blaming at least one incident on “illegal interference.”
In Russia’s Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, a road bridge collapsed onto a railway line late on Saturday, derailing a passenger train heading to Moscow and killing seven people. The collapse of the bridge was the result of an explosion, the region’s acting governor said on Sunday, according to Russia’s Interfax agency.
“The bridge was blown up while the Klimovo-Moscow train was passing through with 388 passengers on board,” Interfax quoted Alexander Bogomaz as telling Russia’s public broadcaster.
A separate rail bridge in the neighboring Kursk region also collapsed overnight, derailing a freight train and injuring the driver, officials said.
Authorities did not say what caused the collapses, nor provide details on the incidents, but prosecutors said they had opened an investigation.
Videos posted on social media from the Bryansk region showed rescuers clambering over the mangled chassis of a train belonging to national operator Russian Railways, while screams could be heard in another video.
“There are seven dead as a result of the collapse of a bridge onto railway tracks,” Alexander Bogomaz, the Bryansk region’s governor, wrote on Telegram.
At least 66 others were injured, including three children, he said, giving a revised toll.
In the separate incident in the Kursk region, a rail bridge collapsed onto a road, derailing a freight train.
“Last night… in the Zheleznogorsk district, a bridge collapsed while a freight locomotive was passing. Part of the train fell onto the road below the bridge,” Kursk region governor Alexander Khinshtein said on Telegram.
“One of the locomotive drivers suffered leg injuries, and the entire crew was taken to hospital,” he said.
There was no immediate comment from Russian investigators on the cause of either collapse.
Moscow Railways, a state-owned railway operator, had blamed the incident in the Bryansk region on “illegal interference in the operation of transport” in a post online.
But it later appeared to have removed the reference to “illegal interference” from its post.
Ukraine, which Russia has blamed for previous incidents, did not immediately comment.
Russia’s emergency ministry said a team was on site in the Bryansk region, while Russian Railways said it had dispatched repair trains to the scene.
Russia has been hit by dozens of sabotage attacks since Moscow launched its offensive against Ukraine in 2022, many targeting its vast railroad network.
Kyiv says Russia uses railroads to transport troops and weaponry to its forces fighting in Ukraine.
The incidents came on the eve of a possible meeting between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Istanbul, amid a US-led diplomatic push to end the three-year-long conflict. — NNN-AGENCIES
