Limited road traffic resumes on Crimean Bridge after huge explosion
Oct 08, 2022
Moscow [Russia], October 8 : The Kerch Strait Bridge which connects the Crimean Peninsula with mainland Russia and got engulfed in fire on Saturday has resumed on intact lanes of the Crimean bridge.
"Limited road traffic for cars and buses has resumed on intact lanes of the Crimean bridge which was hit by an explosion early in the morning," Al Jazeera reported citing Russia's Transport Ministry.
The ministry further said that traffic would temporarily be restricted between Crimea and the Russian Taman Peninsula in alternating directions due to safety reasons.
Moreover, Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed governor of the Crimean Peninsula, taking to social media said that heavy goods vehicles would have to wait to cross by ferry, reported Al Jazeera.
Traffic was suspended on the road-and-rail bridge after a fuel tank caught fire on the Crimean Bridge.
Meanwhile, the National Anti-Terrorism Committee of Russia said on Saturday that the bridge connecting the Crimean Peninsula with mainland Russia was damaged in a blast, which occurred shortly after 6 am local time, causing 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.
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. Notably, Russia recently annexed four regions of Ukraine - Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
The war between Russia and Ukraine appears to be entering a new phase after Kyiv dealt a big blow to Moscow's grip after it recaptured 2,400 square kilometres of territory in the Kherson region in the south of the country "since the beginning of the full-scale war," a senior Ukrainian official said Friday, reported CNN.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president's office said six settlements had been liberated in the Kherson district as well as 61 in the Beryslav district.
Tymoshenko said the evacuation of civilians continued amid massive destruction to critical infrastructure in towns like Arkhanhelske, Vysokopillia and Osokorivka, all of which saw weeks of heavy fighting and indirect fire. Demining is in progress, he added.
