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Drivers prevented more serious damage when train caught fire on Crimean Bridge — railway

The train’s drivers promptly unhooked the burning cars and drove the undamaged train to the Kerch station

MOSCOW, October 11. /TASS/. The drivers of the train that caught fire on the Crimean bridge quickly unhooked the tank cars that had caught fire and managed to bring the undamaged part of the train to the Kerch station, thus preventing more serious damage, the Crimean Railway has said on its Telegram channel.

"Several tank cars of a freight train caught fire on the Crimean bridge. The train’s drivers promptly unhooked the burning cars and drove the undamaged train to the Kerch station," the post says.

There were 59 cars in the train and 25 of them were unhooked. The weight of the train was about 4,000 tons.

"Had it not been for the prompt and professional action taken by the train drivers, the consequences could have been far more tragic. Without panic, promptly and smoothly the drivers acted in accordance with the established instructions without wasting a second," the Crimean Railway said.

On Saturday morning, a truck was blown up on the Crimean Bridge. Several cisterns of a freight going past caught fire. Three people died. Two spans of the automobile part of the bridge towards the peninsula collapsed. A government commission was created under Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin. Railway traffic on the Crimean bridge has now been restored. Automobile traffic has partially resumed, too.