Witness footage posted on social media showed a fireball rising near the Kochetovka-2 railway station. Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations told state news agency TASS that several train tank cars caught fire on Wednesday.
Firefighting trains were sent to the scene, the ministry added. There are no reports of deaths or injuries.
See the moment of the explosion:
According to state news agency RIA, the Russian railway company reported that freight cars carrying fuel had derailed and caught fire, causing delays to passenger train journeys.
An investigation into the cause of the fire has been opened, according to a statement sent by telegram from the Moscow Interregional Transport Prosecutor’s Office.
Reuters news agency was able to verify the location of the video by comparing the pedestrian walkway, structures and surrounding buildings seen in the recordings with archival and satellite images of Tambov railway station.
The date was confirmed through corroborating images, along with official and media reports about what happened.
