Moscow: A key bridge that connects Crimean Peninsula with mainland Russia was gutted by a fire sparked by a car bomb on Saturday.
According to reports, Russia’s RIA state news agency claimed that a fuel tank was on fire on the Kerch Bridge. Visuals from the bridge showed some carriages of a train on the Kerch bridge in Crimea being engulfed in a fire.
An official while talking to the Russian news agency TASS said “An object believed to be a fuel storage tank has caught fire on the Crimean Bridge, but the viaduct’s navigable arches sustained no damage.”
According to a report by RT, “ the National Anti-Terrorism Committee of Russia said on Saturday that the bridge connecting Crimean Peninsula with mainland Russia was damaged in a blast, which occurred shortly after 6 am local time, caused a partial collapse of the road on the vehicle section. It also triggered a blaze on a freight train on the parallel rail section, with seven fuel tanks catching fire.”
The bridge was opened in 2018 by President Vladimir Putin, four years after Moscow annexed Crimea and was designed to link the peninsula to Russia’s transport network.
The 19-kilometre (11.8 miles) bridge, which runs across the Kerch Strait and connects Crimea with mainland Russia, consists of a railway and vehicle sections. It became fully operational in 2020.
According to some media reports, the Crimean bridge is a key target for Ukrainian forces who have been attacking Russian logistics.
(With Agency Inputs)