RIGA, May 7 (LETA) - False information of an Ukrainian drone crashing on a passenger train last night is being deliberately circulated in Latvia, the State Police informed LETA.

According to law enforcement authorities, false information that a drone fell on the Riga-Daugavpils passenger train in a railway section between Nicgale and Vabole last night is being purposefully spread in Latvia.

Police note that on the evening of May 5, information was received that a carriage of a passenger train caught fire in the Nicgale-Vabole railway section. The information currently available to investigators suggests that the fire broke out in the engine compartment of the train and is most probably related to engine damage.

At the same time, the exact circumstances of the incident will be clarified in a criminal probe. All passengers were evacuated from the train and there were no casualties, the police said.

The police warn that such purposeful and malicious spreading of fake news, thereby committing a deliberate provocation and sowing fear in society, may entail criminal liability.

Law enforcement authorities also call on people to critically assess the information available on the internet and to trust only official sources of information - websites of public authorities and official social media accounts.

As LETA reported, several unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, flew into Latvian airspace from Russia in the early hours of Thursday, and at least one of them crashed in Rezekne, damaging an oil storage facility.

At the request of the National Armed Forces (NAF), a cell broadcast notification was sent out by the State Fire and Rescue Service to residents of the municipalities of Ludza, Balvi, and Rezekne.

Even after sunrise, drones could be seen and heard in the air over Rezekne, eyewitnesses reported. Residents also reported noises similar to fighter jets.

Defense Minister Andris Spruds (Progressives) said in an interview with Latvian Television that the Latvian National Armed Forces (NAF), together with NATO allies, were exercising maximum control over Latvian airspace. NATO fighter jets were also in the air, the minister added.

The NAF notes that while Russian aggression in Ukraine is ongoing, there is a risk of recurrence of incidents of foreign drones entering or approaching Latvian airspace.