At least four persons were killed and approximately 30 were injured when a train derailed in Germany’s southeastern state of Bavaria.The train, carrying numerous students, was on its way to Munich when three cars derailed near Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
According to investigators, they are working to determine what caused the collision.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed shock at the event and conveyed sympathy to the victims’ families.
A local government official in Garmisch-Partenkirchen first claimed that 60 people had been hurt, but Stefan Sonntag, a spokesperson for the German federal police, clarified the figure referred to the number of passengers on the train.
The crash occurred on Friday about 13:15 local time (11:15 GMT), shortly after the train left Garmisch-Partenkirchen for Munich.
According to Mr. Sonntag, 15 of the injured were in critical condition at a local hospital. Authorities also reported that a number of children had been injured.
The cause of the accident, which occurred as the train approached a large bend, is unknown, but Bavaria’s transport minister, Christian Bernreiter, told regional television BR that it could have been caused by a technical failure.
“There were no third parties involved here,” he explained, “therefore one must conclude that some technical problem – either on the vehicle or on the track – was the cause.”
Rescuers had to use ladders to climb down through windows to reach survivors trapped in upturned carriages, and officials said passengers were “pulled through the windows” to save them from the wreckage.
Six helicopters were dispatched to the area, three of which were scrambled from the Austrian region of Tyrol.
The area has begun preparations for the G7 summit of world leaders later this month, and a number of police and troops stationed in the vicinity have been engaged as part of the rescue effort.
When the train derailed, a US soldier stationed at a nearby air base was driving by. According to him, the disaster was “absolutely horrific – immediately the train overturned.”
The disaster occurred as Germany introduced a new cheap rail ticket, and Mr. Sonntag stated that the regional train was “extremely busy and many people were using it, thus the high number of casualties.”
According to Deutsche Bahn, a section of the railway between Munich and Garmisch-Partenkirchen has been closed and traffic has been diverted.
In 1998, the deadliest rail catastrophe near contemporary German history happened when a high-speed train derailed in Eschede, Lower Saxony, killing 101 persons.
The most recent tragic accident in the country occurred in February, when one person was killed and 14 others were injured in a collision between two trains near Munich.
In a separate incident, a carriage on an Italian high-speed train travelling from Turin to Rome derailed as it approached Rome.
According to local emergency personnel, no one was harmed in the event, which occurred as the train’s back carriage approached the Serenissima tunnel in Rome.