Crimea official says railway traffic suspended after reported blast

The derailment was caused by 'interference by outsiders,' Crimean railways said in a statement.

 A general view shows a road-and-rail bridge, built to connnect the Russian mainland with the Crimean peninsula, at sunrise in the Kerch Strait, Crimea November 26, 2018. (photo credit: REUTERS/Pavel Rebrov/File Photo)
A general view shows a road-and-rail bridge, built to connnect the Russian mainland with the Crimean peninsula, at sunrise in the Kerch Strait, Crimea November 26, 2018.
(photo credit: REUTERS/Pavel Rebrov/File Photo)

Rail traffic has been suspended between Simferopol, capital of the Crimean peninsula, and the city of Sevastopol, after a freight train carrying grain derailed, the region's Russian-installed leader said on Thursday.

The derailment was caused by "interference by outsiders," Crimean Railways said in a statement.

Russia claims outside interference

In a statement posted on Telegram, Sergei Aksyonov said that wagons loaded with grain had derailed and no one was injured.

Earlier, the Baza Telegram channel, which has links to Russian security services, had reported an explosion on a railway line in the region, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.

 Vessels are seen as they await inspection under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, in the southern anchorage of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey December 11, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/YORUK ISIK/FILE PHOTO)
Vessels are seen as they await inspection under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, in the southern anchorage of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey December 11, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/YORUK ISIK/FILE PHOTO)

On Wednesday, Russia renewed the Black Sea grain deal, a Turkish-brokered accord that facilitates agricultural exports from Russia and Ukraine on the Black Sea.