Moscow, 8 October 2022 (dpa/MIA) - An explosion that sparked a fire on a bridge to Crimea on Saturday caused massive damage to the train tracks and the roadway, sparking an official investigation in Russia and jubilation among Ukrainian officials. At least three people were killed in the huge blast on the bridge on Saturday morning, Russia's national investigation committee said citing preliminary findings, adding that the bodies were recovered from the water. The images of the aftermath show a destroyed lane and car parts floating in the water underneath, as well as several burned-out wagons of a freighter train which is said to have transported diesel fuel. According to the Russian Civil Protection Ministry, the fire has been extinguished. Russia's national investigation committee said that a truck had exploded on the road part of the bridge, causing seven fuel tanks of a train headed to the Crimean peninsula to catch fire. As a result, parts of the roadway collapsed. In addition to the driver of the truck, the other two fatalities had been driving in a car besides the vehicle when it exploded. The identities of the man and the woman still need to be clarified, according to the committee. According to preliminary findings, the truck was headed from the Russian mainland to the coastal town of Kerch on the peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an official investigation into the cause of the fire, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Interfax news agency. The bridge has major symbolic importance for Russia, as it connects mainland Russia to the Crimean peninsula. It was opened with much fanfare by Putin himself. Kiev has vowed to retake Crimea, as well as the other four regions annexed by Russia during the course of the war in Ukraine which began in February, and the destruction of the bridge brought a jubilant reaction from Ukrainians on social media. Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor in the office of President Volodymyr Zelensky, posted a message on Twitter with a picture of the destroyed bridge section. "Crimea, the bridge, the beginning. Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled," he wrote in English. He did not explicitly say Ukraine was behind the explosion. The head of Ukraine's postal service, Igor Smelyansky, said there would be a special stamp featuring the bridge. "The morning has never been so beautiful," he wrote on Telegram. The government in the Russian-occupied Crimean city of Simferopol announced that they were planning to put in place a ferry connection given the damage to the bridge. Moscow had previously warned Ukrainian forces against targeting the bridge, and said that it could target military command centres in Kiev in response.