This is the moment a lorry runs a red light and smashes into a freight train carrying gasoline causing 18 wagons to derail and burst into flames.

The crash happened at a railway crossing between Rudnya and Golynki stations near the village of Ryzhikovo, in the Smolensk region of Russia, near the border with Belarus, on 26th September.

Six of the derailed wagons caught fire and the blaze spread across 400 square metres.

More than 40 firefighters with 10 fire engines from Russia and Belarus as well as fire and recovery trains were sent to the scene of the disaster.

Footage from the scene shows firefighters dousing the flames as a thick, black plume of smoke rises to the sky.

Two members of the train crew, the driver and his assistant, were injured.

The lorry driver died in the collision.

Investigators say the lorry ignored a red light and entered the crossing.

The locomotive engineer applied the emergency brake but was unable to prevent the crash.

Prosecutors have opened a criminal case into a violation of transport safety rules.

Train traffic including between Russia and Belarus is suspended.

Several services have been cancelled and road traffic through the crossing has also been stopped.

The fire has now been localised.

(Simona Kitanovska / newsX)