Key bridge linking Crimea to Russia hit by huge explosion

Moscow: 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, RIA, 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 TASS.

Meanwhile, 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, according to RT.

A ferry service across the Kerch Strait will be launched later today, Crimea's Head Sergey Aksyonov said TASS reported.

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.

As per some media reports, the Crimean bridge is a key target for Ukrainian forces who have been attacking Russian logistics.