MOSCOW (Reuters) – A bridge on Russia’s Trans-Siberian railway in its Far East has been damaged following heavy rain and floods and traffic in the area has been suspended, officials said on Friday.
The emergencies ministry said the bridge had given way in Zabaikalsk region, some 300 km (190 miles) north of the border with China and Mongolia. No casualties have been reported.
RIA news agency published pictures of the damaged bridge with skewed rail lines and bits of the infrastructure in the river.
Russian Railways said the Zabaikalsk part of the railway suspended passenger traffic in both directions after a footing of the bridge was washed away.
The Zabaikalsk region was hit by floods on Thursday, with around 650 houses reported flooded and five road bridges washed away, TASS news agency said.
Zhengzhou, the capital city of populous Henan province in China, has borne the brunt of extreme wet weather this week, receiving the equivalent of a year’s worth of rain in just a few days.
Germany, Belgium and other countries in Europe have also suffered major flooding this summer.
The Trans-Siberian railway, built between 1891 and 1916, stretches from Moscow through vast pine forests, over the Ural mountains and across Siberia to the Pacific Ocean.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Tom Balmforth and Gleb Stolyarov; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
