7 dead, nearly 70 injured as train derail after bridge collapse in Russia

At least seven people were killed late Saturday and dozens were reported injured after a bridge collapsed onto a railway in a Russian region bordering Ukraine, officials said.

Authorities said a train travelling from the Russian border town of Klimovo to the capital Moscow was derailed in the incident.

"There are seven dead as a result of the collapse of a bridge onto railway tracks," Aleksandr Bogomaz, the Bryansk region's governor, wrote on Telegram. At least 69 others were injured, including three children, he was quoted by AFP as saying.

The railway operator said "illegal interference" was responsible for the accident.

Moscow Railways, a state-owned subsidiary, said a passenger train derailed "between Klimov and Moscow due to the collapse of a road bridge span, as a result of illegal interference in the operation of transport".

The incident happened at 10:44 pm (1944 GMT) between Pilshino and Vygonichi stations in the Bryansk region, the railway operator said on Telegram. The incident did not affect other train traffic, the firm added.

Videos posted on social media showed rescuers working at the site of a large mound of rubble covering what appeared to be a train belonging to national operator Russian Railways, while another showed people shouting in distress.

In one video posted on social media, someone can be heard screaming as eyewitnesses rush to find help. "How did the bridge collapse? There are children there!" a woman can be heard shouting in the video.