Bridge blasts are 'acts of terror'

SEVEN people were killed and dozens injured after bridges in two separate Russian regions bordering Ukraine collapsed overnight, officials said yesterday.

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The collapse of two bridges in Russian regions bordering Ukraine that killed seven people were caused by explosions, Russian officials said yesterday, treating them as “acts of terrorism’.

In Russia's Bryansk region border-ing Ukraine, a blast caused a road bridge to collapse onto a railway line late on Saturday, derailing a passenger train heading to Moscow and killing seven people, the authorities said.

A separate rail bridge in the neigh-bouring Kursk region was blown up hours later in the early hours of yes-terday, derailing a freight train and injuring the driver.

The authorities did not say who was behind the explosions, but investigators said a criminal inquiry was underway.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was briefed on the incidents through-out the night, the Kremlin said.

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 rail-way tracks,” Alexander Bogomaz, the Bryansk region’s governor, wrote on Telegram.