‘Explosive device’ causes another freight train derailment in Russian region near Ukraine

A freight train derailment occurred in the western Russian region bordering Ukraine, on Tuesday (May 2), for the second day in a row due to an “explosive device” on the tracks, said the governor of Russia’s Bryansk region.

Media reports citing local officials have said that the locomotive and some cars of the train were derailed after a similar incident occurred, on Monday, near Unecha where the locomotive and seven freight wagons were derailed.

The incident, on Tuesday, occurred in the western Bryansk region, which borders both Ukraine and Belarus where Russian officials have reported multiple attacks by pro-Ukrainian sabotage groups since Moscow invaded Kyiv over a year ago.

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In a statement, the Bryansk region governor Alexander Bogomaz said, “An unidentified explosive device went off near the Snezhestkaya railway station,” as quoted by the news agency AFP. He added, “A locomotive and several wagons of the train derailed,” adding that there were no casualties. He also did not indicate who was responsible for the incident.

Russian Railways also released a statement without mentioning an explosive device, and said that the train had derailed due to “the intervention of unauthorised persons in the work of rail transport”.

The state operator also confirmed that the incident took place at 7:47 pm (local time) between Snezhetskaya, just to the southeast of Bryansk, and the nearby village of Belye Berega where the rail traffic hasbeen suspended. The railway authorities also said the train’s front locomotive and “around 20 wagons” were derailed.

Meanwhile, the Russian news agency TASSciting officials reportedthatfirefighters were working at the scene and two recovery trains had been dispatched to the area. The local prosecutors have also launched an investigation into the incident, said news agency.

What happened on Monday?

This comes a day after Bogomaz took to Telegram and wrote, “An unidentified explosive device went off, as a result of which a locomotive of a freight train derailed,” adding that there were “no casualties”. Images and videos from the site shared on social media platforms showed plumes of dark grey smoke rising into the air and several tank carriages also seen lying on their side.

The incident occurred at 10:17 am (Moscow time) between regional hub Bryansk and the town of Unecha and the train was reportedly carrying oil products and timber. Notably, the governor of the northern Leningrad region, Alexander Drozdenko, on Monday had said that local power lines were blown up by an “explosive device.”

(With inputs from agencies)

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

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