4 killed, 44 injured in passenger train derailment in Russia's Bryansk Oblast following bridge collapse, officials claim
Editor’s note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
At least 4 people are dead and another 44 injured after a train derailed in Russia’s Bryansk Oblast overnight on May 31, following the collapse of an overhead road bridge, Russian officials said.
Photos and videos posted on social media appears to show damage sustained to the train after an impact with the bridge. Russian Telegram channel ASTRA reported that a total of 379 people were on board the train at the time of derailment, around 10:45 p.m. local time.
Preliminary reports suggest that explosions were heard in the Vygonichsky district of Bryansk Oblast ahead of the impact, and Moscow Railways, a subsidiary of state-run Russian Railways, claimed that the bridge collapsed due to the “unlawful interference in transport operations”
No further information was provided as to the cause of the bridge collapse, and the full extent of the damage was not immediately clear.
The Kyiv Independent cannot verify claims made by Russian authorities. Ukraine’s military has not commented on the reported derailment.
The passenger train reportedly runs from the town of Klimovo in Bryansk Oblast to the Russian capital of Moscow.
Bryansk Oblast, located in Russia’s far-west, borders Ukraine’s Chernihiv and Sumy Oblast, and has been the target of various Ukrainian strikes.
Ukraine’s intelligence agencies as well as Ukrainian partisan movements have previously been involved in sabotage attacks on Russian railways, disrupting the transport of military cargo toward the front line. There is no immediate indication either was involved in the train’s derailment.
The Kyiv IndependentAsami Terajima