'Blasts' caused bridges in Russia to collapse, investigators say

AFP , Sunday 1 Jun 2025

Russian investigators said on Sunday they believed that "explosions" had caused two bridges in the border regions of Kursk and Bryansk to collapse overnight.

Russia
This handout photograph posted on the Telegram account of Kursk region acting governor on June 1, 2025 shows a train carriage on a rail bridge following its collapse in the Kursk region. AFP

 

In the Bryansk region at 10:50 pm (1950) on Saturday, "a road bridge collapsed as a result of a blast", Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement.

In the Kursk region early on Sunday, at around 3:00 am (0000 GMT), "a railway bridge was also blown up", it added.

Seven people were killed and dozens injured after bridges in two separate Russian regions bordering Ukraine collapsed overnight, officials said on Sunday.

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.

A separate rail bridge in the neighbouring Kursk region also collapsed overnight, derailing a freight train and injuring the driver, officials said.

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 a 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 the hospital," he said.

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.

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