Seven dead in train crash after 'explosions' destroy bridges on Ukraine border

Seven people have been killed and dozens injured after ‘explosions’ brought down two bridges in Russia overnight.

One of the bridges collapsed onto a passenger train in the Bryansk region after being ‘blown up’,the region’s governor said.

Screams could be heard from inside the train after it derailed with 388 passengers inside at 10.50pm local time.

Rescue workers were working at the scene,close to the border with Ukraine,this morning to free those trapped in the crumpled carriages.

Emergency services work at the scene of the bridge collapse in the Bryansk region (Picture: REUTERS)

The driver and six others were killed and a further 69 were injured,including three children.

A second bridge then toppled down at around 3am local time in the Kursk region while a freight train was passing over it.

The driver and his two assistants were injured during the collapse.

Russia’s Investigative Committee declared on Sunday that both bridges had been hit by explosions.

It came after Bryansk’s acting governor Alexander Bogomaz said the bridge in his region had been ‘blown up’ before collapsing onto the passenger train.

A senior Kremlin politician accused Ukraine of acting as a ‘terrorist enclave’ after the blasts.

Map of where the two bridge ‘explosions’ happened in Russia

Andrei Klishas,a senior member of the Federation Council,Russia’s upper chamber of parliament,said: ‘Ukraine has long lost the attributes of a state and has turned into a terrorist enclave’.

Moscow Railways,a state-owned railway operator,initially pointed the finger for the Bryansk crash at ‘illegal interference in the operation of transport’ before removing reference to ‘illegal interference’.

Ukraine has targeted Russia with waves of sabotage attacks since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Many hit Russia’s railway network because they carry troops and weaponry to the front.

This week four Ukrainian allies reportedly removed range restrictions on deadly weapons supplied to Ukraine,opening the door for deeper strikes into Russia.

The damaged freight train struck as the bridge collapsed in Russia’s Kursk region

(Picture: AP)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has indicated Britain has removed all restrictions on the distance Ukraine can fire UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles inside Russian territory.

‘There are no longer any range restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine,neither by the British,nor by the French,nor by us. Nor by the Americans,’ he said.

In November,Ukraine began using British-supplied missiles to strike Russia for the first time.

The US also announced that Ukraine could use American weapons to attack Russia around the same time.