According to officials, a passenger train carrying 100 people slammed in Germany, causing the death of at least three people and injuring dozens more.
In western Baden-Wurttemberg state, which is roughly 158 kilometers (98 miles) west of Munich, the crash occurred on Sunday evening in a forested area close to the town of Riedlingen.
The train driver and an employee of Germany’s state-owned rail company, Deutsche Bahn, were among the three victims, according to district fire chief Charlotte Ziller.
She claimed that 25 of the 50 people involved in the collision suffered serious injuries.
Two train carriages “deadly confirmed” and sustained numerous injuries, according to Deutsche Bahn, who confirmed the deaths and injuries.
The operator claimed that traffic had been suspended along a 40km (25-mile) stretch of the route because authorities were currently looking into the circumstances surrounding the accident.
According to Thomas Strobl, the state’s interior minister in Baden-Wurttemberg, severe storms had already swept the area and that investigation is being conducted into whether the rains had caused the accident.
He claimed that because there have been heavy rains here, it is possible that a landslide accident and the heavy rain have caused the incident. However, this is currently the subject of ongoing inquiries.
When it derailed, the train was going from Sigmaringen to Ulm.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed his condolences to the victims’ families in a social media post.
He continued, adding that he had been in contact with both the ministers of transportation and the interior, asking them to “ask them for support wherever they may be.”
As firefighters and emergency services attempted to reach the passengers, footage from the accident scene showed yellow and grey train carriages lying on their sides.
Shortly after the accident, emergency doctors from nearby hospitals were called, according to the local television station SWR.
Deutsche Bahn’s CEO, Richard Lutz, announced a Monday visit to the accident scene.
He thanked all the emergency services and volunteers on the scene and expressed how deeply shocked and outraged the driver was by the accident.
“My condolences and my sincere sympathies extend to the deceased’s family.” He continued, “I wish the injured a quick and painless recovery.”
According to the official DPA news agency, the rail operator has established a free special hotline for those affected and their families. Travelers and employees who are affected by the situation can also get emergency chaplains and psychologists, the statement continued.
Travelers frequently experience delays in trains and other technical issues while traveling in Germany due to its outdated infrastructure.
Over the next few years, the government has pledged to invest several billion euros, particularly in infrastructure modernization.
Four people were killed and dozens injured when a train derailed in southern Germany near a Bavarian Alpine resort in June 2022.
In Eschede, Lower Saxony, a high-speed train operated by the state-owned Deutsche Bahn derailed in 1998, killing 101 people. It was Germany’s deadliest rail accident.
Source: Aljazeera
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