Crimean head Sergey Aksenov said on Telegram overnight that traffic was suspended on the Crimean Bridge due to an emergency, and urged people to avoid traveling via the Crimean Bridge.
"In connection with the closure of traffic on the Crimean Bridge, drivers can travel along the land road route in new regions," the Russian transport ministry said on Monday morning.
An operational headquarters was formed to coordinate the actions of all services in connection with the emergency, local authorities said. Crimea has all the necessary fuel, food and supplies.
"On my instructions, an operational headquarters has been formed on the spot, in the Temryuksky district, to coordinate the actions of all services in connection with the emergency, as well as to organise assistance to people in traffic jams on the approaches to the bridge. We keep in touch with our colleagues from Crimea," Krasnodar region's head Veniamin Kondratyev wrote on Telegram.
Tourist traffic has also been diverted to an alternative route, local authorities said.
Governor of the Russian port city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said on Telegram that there is enough gas in the city and there will be no shortage, food supplies are also sufficient.
"From the side of the Republic of Crimea, there is damage to the roadway on the spans of the Crimean bridge," the Russian Transport Ministry said on Telegram on Monday morning, adding that the "structures of the spans themselves are on their supports."
The transport ministry refuted information that appeared earlier in the media about alleged damage to the support structure of the Crimean Bridge.
Casualties
Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that one girl was injured in the emergency on the Crimean Bridge, while her parents died. The Health Ministry of Krasnodar Territory also confirmed that a man and a woman who had been driving by car from Stary Oskol, Belgorod region, had died in the incident.
Their 14-year-old daughter sustained a head injury. The child's life is not in danger, she has been admitted to the intensive care unit of Temryk Central Hospital. The girl is to be transported to Krasnodar region by air ambulance when her condition makes it possible.
Traffic
Meanwhile, Crimea head Sergey Aksenov has assured that railroad service on the Crimean Bridge will be resumed before 9:00 a.m. local time on Monday (6:00 GMT).
"Regarding the situation on the Crimean bridge: I have just spoken with the First Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Andrey Aleksandrovich Kostyuk. The movement of railway transport will be resumed before 9:00. The train schedule will catch up," Aksenov said on Telegram.
Aksenov also said that information regarding the operation of the ferry would also be updated before 9:00 local time.
"The law enforcement agencies will additionally inform about the causes of the incident, all the necessary services are working on the spot," the head of the Crimea added.
Trains heading to Krasnodar region are running on schedule," Russian Railways said in its Telegram channel on Monday. It was added that trains delayed in connection with the emergency on the bridge will, as possible, be incorporated into the schedule
Temporary accommodation is to be offered in the east of Crimea for tourists after the emergency on the Crimean bridge, assured Oleg Kryuchkov, adviser to the Crimea head.
"Tourists will be able to get help and information regarding alternative routes, railway communication and the ferry crossing," he wrote on Telegram.
Kryuchkov also informed tourists that there were three checkpoints currently operating at the exit from Crimea, in the north of the peninsula, at the entrance to Kherson region: Armyansk, Dzhankoy, and Perekop. Passports, birth certificates for children and car documents are required for tourists taking an alternative route from Crimea, informed Oleg Kryuchkov.
The Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Crimea is investigating the circumstances of the emergency on the Crimean bridge, the office’s press service reported. It added that Oleg Kamshilov, Crimea’s prosecutor, was to coordinate the actions of law enforcement agencies.
