At least three people were killed in the explosion that damaged the Crimean bridge, which connects Russia to the annexed Ukrainian peninsula, Russian investigators announced, adding they had identified the owner of the truck that exploded.
“According to preliminary data, three people died as a result of the accident. They were probably passengers in a car that was near the truck that exploded,” the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement released on Saturday.
According to the same source, “the bodies of two of the victims – a man and a woman – have already been removed from the water.”
The Investigative Committee, the body in charge of the main criminal investigations in Russia, also claimed to have “established the identity of the owner of the truck”, a man residing in the Krasnodar region, in the south of the country, and who is suspected of being at the origin of the explosion.
“An investigation has been opened at his place of residence. The route and documents of the truck are being studied,” the investigators added.
The explosion of this vehicle today caused a major fire and damage to this important road and rail infrastructure, which supplies Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed in 2014 by Russia.
The bridge is also a symbolic project, as it was built at great expense and opened in 2018 by Russian President Vladimir Putin himself.
Ukraine has not officially claimed responsibility for this attack.
However, the parliamentary leader of the Ukrainian president’s party, Volodymyr Zelensky, hinted that the incident was a consequence of Moscow’s seizure of Crimea and attempts to integrate the peninsula into Russia.
“Russian illegal construction is starting to crumble and catch fire. The reason is simple: if you build something explosive, sooner or later it will explode,” wrote David Arakhamia, leader of the Servant of the People, on the Telegram message network.
“And this is just the beginning. Among many other things, reliable construction is not something Russia is particularly famous for,” he concluded.
Russia, however, reacted to the kyiv statements, considering the Ukrainian reaction as a sign of the “terrorist nature” of Ukraine.
Source: TSF
