Moscow - Saba:
Russian authorities on Sunday said the number of injured in the collapse of a highway bridge onto a railway line as a train crossed in the Vygunichsky district of the region has risen to 69, including three in critical condition.
Sputnik quoted Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of the Russian Bryansk region, as saying in a statement on Telegram on Sunday: "As of this hour, the number of victims has reached 69, including three children, three of whom are in critical condition."
Bogomaz added that one child was among the injured, noting that "44 people were taken to the hospital, while 22 are receiving outpatient care."
Earlier, Bogomaz reported that a railway bridge collapsed in the Vygunichsky district after a passenger train collided with two cars, resulting in casualties.
Bogomaz said in a statement on Telegram: "A bridge collapsed in the Vygunichsky district. A traffic accident between cars and a passenger train has occurred on one of the sections of the A-240 federal highway. Unfortunately, there are casualties."
He added that all emergency services and government officials are working at the accident site, stressing that everyone is "doing everything necessary to provide assistance to the victims."
The Russian Emergencies Ministry said in a statement: "Fire and rescue units are conducting emergency rescue operations at the site of the collapse of a highway bridge in the Bryansk region, and victims are being provided with all necessary assistance."
It noted that emergency rescue teams, equipment, and lighting towers were dispatched to the area, where rescue efforts are underway at night.
For its part, Russian Railways announced via its Telegram channel: "The locomotive and carriages of passenger train No. 86 Klimov-Moscow derailed on the Belshino-Vygunichsky single-track section in the Bryansk region."
The authority clarified that the accident did not affect the movement of other trains.
For his part, Alexei Kuznetsov, Deputy Minister of Health of Russia, said in press statements that "17 injured people were transported to medical centers in the Bryansk region, including a child in critical condition." He noted that "16 ambulance and disaster medicine teams are working at the accident site, in addition to buses transporting the injured to temporary shelters."
The Western Regional Investigative Department of the Russian Investigative Committee stated in a statement via Telegram: "Investigators from the Western Regional Investigative Department of the Russian Investigative Committee, in cooperation with operational services, are inspecting the accident site. A series of investigative measures have been organized to determine all the circumstances of the incident."
| more of (International) |