Explosion destroys key bridge in Russia

Black smoke billows from a fire on the Kerch Bridge that links Crimea to Russia, after a truck exploded near Kerch. Pic/AFP

A key bridge that connects the Crimean Peninsula with mainland Russia was gutted in a fire sparked by a car bomb, authorities in Moscow said on Saturday. Russia's state news agency said that a fuel tank was on fire on the Kerch Bridge, while Ukraine media reported an explosion. Visuals from the bridge showed some carriages of a train on the Kerch bridge in Crimea being engulfed in a fire. Traffic has been suspended on the road-and-rail bridge.

"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, an aide to the head of Crimea, Oleg Kryuchkov, said as cited by the Russian news agency.

Three people have been found dead so far as the result of a truck explosion on a bridgelinking Russia to Crimea, Russia's Investigative Committee said on Saturday. "They are believed to be passengers of a car that was near the truck that exploded. The bodies of two victims, a man and a woman, have already been recovered from the water and their identities are being established," the committee said in a statement.

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The investigators have also established the details of the truck and its owner, registered in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, and have begun searching his place of residence, it added. Crimean bridge is a key target for Ukrainian forces who have been attacking Russian logistics.

‘Bridge must be destroyed', says Ukraine advisor

A Ukrainian presidential advisor posted a message on Twitter after conflicting reports of an explosion or fire on Saturday that damaged the bridge connecting the Russian mainland to the occupied Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, calling it "the beginning" but not directly claiming Ukrainian responsibility. "Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled," Mykhailo Podolyak wrote.

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Number of people dead due to the truck explosion on the bridge

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