In this Oct 8, 2022 file photo, a helicopter drops water to stop fire on the Crimean Bridge connecting the Russian mainland and Crimean peninsula over the Kerch Strait, in Kerch, Crimea. (PHOTO / AP)
VLADIVOSTOK – Two parents died in an emergency on the Crimean bridge, and their daughter was injured with moderate severity, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov confirmed on Monday.
The governor of Krasnodar, Veniamin Kondratyev, said that an operational headquarters was set up in the Temryuk district of the Krasnodar Territory to coordinate the actions of all services and to assist the people who were stuck in traffic jams near the bridge.
The Russian Ministry of Transport confirmed that the road surface on the Crimean bridge was damaged on the Crimea side, but refuted media reports that claimed the bridge supports were also affected
Earlier on Monday, Sergey Aksenov, the head of Crimea, said that traffic on the Crimean bridge was halted due to an emergency near its 145th support column, but did not reveal the cause of the incident.
Later, the Russian Ministry of Transport confirmed that the road surface on the Crimean bridge was damaged on the Crimea side, but refuted media reports that claimed the bridge supports were also affected.
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According to the TASS news agency, the ministry said the bridge condition was being inspected continuously.
A special group of investigators from the Russian Investigative Committee has arrived at the scene to conduct an investigation into the emergency.
