Train derails as bridge collapses in Russia near Ukraine border, 7 dead and 30 injured

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At least 7 people were found dead and 30 others sustained injuries after a passenger train derailed following a bridge collapse in Russia’s western Bryansk region, cited various media houses.

According to the reports, train was travelling from Moscow to Klimov when it came off the tracks in the Vygonichskyi district.

Authorities have reported that the collapse was caused by ‘illegal interference in transport operations.’

Further details on the incident are awaited.

The regional governor confirmed the incident on Telegram saying that emergency services were already on the scene. The train derailment occurred near a federal highway. Multiple rescue units were deployed as soon as the incident happened. Informed Russia’s emergency ministry.

This incident has come in the light of the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine since three years. The border regions have seen repeated drone strikes, sabotage attempts and cross-border shelling.

Meanwhile US president Donald Trump has urged both Moscow and Kyiv to cooperate in reaching peace agreement to end the conflict.

SEVEN PEOPLE WERE killed and dozens injured after bridges in two separate Russian regions bordering Ukraine collapsed overnight, officials have said, 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.

A separate rail bridge in the neighbouring 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 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 hospital,” he said.

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‘Illegal interference’

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.

An AFP reporter in central Moscow saw ambulances parked at Kievsky railway station awaiting the arrival of injured passengers.

In one video posted from the Bryansk region social media account, someone could be heard screaming as eyewitnesses rushed to find help.

“How did the bridge collapse? There are children there!” a woman can be heard shouting in the video.

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 conflict.

– © AFP 2025

A view shows a damaged bus and a train carriage at the scene, after a road bridge collapsed onto railway tracks in the Bryansk region, Russia. PHOTO: REUTERS

MOSCOW – Two bridges collapsed in different Russian regions bordering Ukraine, derailing trains and killing at least seven people and injuring dozens, Russian authorities said early on June 1, while a Russian politician called Kyiv a “terrorist enclave”.

Reuters could not independently confirm whether the incidents in the neighbouring regions were related.

The areas in Russia’s south have been subject to frequent attacks by Ukraine during the war that Russia started with its full-scale invasion more than three years ago.

Seven people were killed and 69 injured when a highway bridge collapsed onto railway tracks, derailing an approaching train in the Bryansk region late on May 31, Russian emergency ministry and regional officials said.

Russia’s Railways initially posted on the Telegram messaging app that the Bryansk bridge collapse was the result of an “illegal interference in the operation of transport,” but it has since removed the post.

Mr Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of the Bryansk region, said on Telegram that 44 people were hospitalised.

Three children were among those injured with one in serious condition, he added.

The collapse in the Kursk region occurred early on June 1 while a freight train was crossing the bridge, Mr Alexander Khinshtein, acting governor of the region, and Russian Railways said on Telegram.

“Part of the train fell onto a road underneath the bridge,” Mr Khinshtein said.

He added that the locomotive caught fire, which was quickly extinguished.

One of the drivers sustained leg injuries, and he and the team operating the train were taken to a local hospital, Mr Khinshtein added.

He posted a photo of derailed carriages on a damaged bridge over a road.

Mr Andrei Klishas, a senior member of the Federation Council, Russia’s Upper Chamber of Parliament, said on the Telegram messaging app that the incident in Bryansk shows that “Ukraine has long-lost the attributes of a state and has turned into a terrorist enclave.”

Russia’s Baza Telegram channel, which often publishes information from sources in the security services and law enforcement, reported, without providing evidence, that according to preliminary information, the Bryansk bridge was blown up.

Reuters could not independently verify the Baza or Pegov’s reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

Since the start of the war that Russia launched more than three years ago, there have been continued cross-border shelling, drone strikes, and covert raids from Ukraine into the Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod regions that border Ukraine.

Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations said on Telegram that efforts to find and rescue victims in the Bryansk incident continued throughout the night, and that some 180 personnel were involved in the operation.

Among those killed was the locomotive driver, Russia’s state news agencies reported, citing medics.

Social media pictures and videos showed passengers trying to help others climb out of the Bryansk train’s damaged carriages in the dark, and firefighters looking for ways to reach passengers.

The train was going from the town of Klimovo to Moscow, Russian Railways said.

It collided with the collapsed bridge in the area of a federal highway in the Vygonichskyi district of the Bryansk region, Bogomaz said.

The district lies some 100km from the border with Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump has urged Moscow and Kyiv to work together on a deal to end the war, and Russia has proposed a second round of face-to-face talks with Ukrainian officials next week in Istanbul.

Ukraine is yet to commit to attending the talks on June 2, saying it first needed to see Russian proposals, while a leading US senator warned Moscow it would be “hit hard” by new US sanctions. REUTERS

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At least seven dead after Russian bridge collapses on to train

1 hour ago Share Save Anna Lamche BBC News Share Save

Moscow Interregional Transport Prosecutor’s Office Moscow officials shared an image appearing to show the collapse, which has not been verified by the BBC

At least seven people have died after a highway bridge collapsed on to railway tracks in Russia close to the Ukraine border, according to emergency services. The bridge in Bryansk brought down several heavy trucks on to a moving passenger train as it collapsed late on Saturday night, with 31 people also reportedly injured. The Russian Emergencies Ministry said fire and rescue units were attempting to find people who had been travelling on the train. In a statement posted to Telegram, Moscow Railway alleged the bridge had collapsed “as a result of illegal interference in transport operations”.

Hours later on Sunday morning, a second bridge also collapsed along the Trosna-Kalinovka highway in the Kursk region, according to Alexander Khinshtein, the acting governor of Kursk Oblast. A freight train had been travelling over the bridge at the time, he said, adding that part of the train had fallen onto the road below. The train caught fire, Khinshtein said, and a driver suffered injuries to his legs. Pictures online from the first incident in Bryansk showed mangled carriages and passengers helping each other climb out of the wreckage in the dark. Local governor Alexander Bogomaz said on Telegram there were “seven fatalities” and two people – including a child – were “seriously injured”. All injured passengers have been taken to medical facilities in the Bryansk region, he added. Moscow’s interregional transport prosecutor’s office said an investigation had been launched. Authorities said the train’s locomotive and several cars derailed when the road bridge fell on to it. Additional emergency workers, as well as rescue equipment and light towers for carrying out work at night have been sent to the area, according to Russian news agency Tass. The train was going from the town of Klimovo to Moscow and was in the Vygonichsky district when the collapse happened, officials said.

Moscow: A second Russian bridge has collapsed near the Ukraine border, a local official says, with reports coming through only hours after a bridge collapse in a nearby region left at least seven people dead.

The first bridge collapsed on top of a passenger train in Russia’s Bryansk region, about 100 kilometres from the border, about 10.44pm on Saturday (5.44am AEST). Moscow Railways said the bridge was damaged “as a result of illegal interference in transport operations”.

An unverified photograph of the scene of the bridge collapse in Russia. Credit: Moscow Transport Prosecutor’s Office

Reuters reported about 2.30pm AEST that a second bridge had collapsed, this time in the Kursk region, while a freight train was passing over it, citing a message on Telegram from the region’s acting governor Alexander Khinshtein. He said initial details suggested one of the locomotive drivers was injured.

Large trucks travelling along the bridge crashed onto the passenger train as it was travelling underneath, causing the train to derail. About 180 emergency workers were searching the wreckage for victims on Sunday morning, Russia’s ministry of emergency situations said.