Video serious railway accident in Germany. More dead and dozens of injured after a train derailed in the southwest of the country
Rescuers are looking for passengers in a derailed train. The passenger train jumped from the rails in the Bibrach district, between the German localities Zwiefalaltendorf and Zell. Photo: Thomas Warnack / DPA / Profimedia
At least three people died and other tens were injured after a passenger train derailed on Sunday evening near Bibrach, in southwest Germany, according to the German publication.
A police spokesman confirmed for AFP that four people have lost their lives in the accident.
A Stuttgart police spokesman confirmed for Reuters only that more people were injured out of the approximately 100 on board
The initial news
The Interior Minister of Land Baden-Württemberg, Thomas Strobl, told Bild that all the people on board were evacuated, but the authorities now raise the derailed wagons to verify if there are no victims under the train. Strobl is at the scene of the accident.
“Currently, we have three dead. In addition, several tens of injured, including a few serious. All passengers have been evacuated from wagons. Now they must be raised, to make sure that no one is under the train,” said the minister.
The accident took place around 6:10 pm, near Zwiefalaltendorf, in Bibrach district. An express regional train operated by Deutsche Bahn derailed on the Sigmingen – Ulm route, with about 100 people on board.
For now, it is not clear whether the train's derailment has been caused by a storm or fell on the railway. “The exact cause of the accident is under investigation,” a federal police spokesman said.
Video images from the accident site seen by Bild publication show firefighters and rescue teams intervening at the derailed wagons to reach the passengers. Strong screams are heard in the background.
In the pictures you can see more wagons out of the rails, of which at least one is overturned. Bloated trees also appear on the spot, which suggests that the train would hit the vegetation near the railway at the time of derailment.
According to the German Meteorological Service (DWD), strong storms crossed the region where the railway accident took place during the Sunday evening. Locally, they fell between 30 and 40 liters of water per square meter in a short period of time, said meteorologist Dominik Smieskol in Munich.
However, DWD does not have a measurement station in the exact area of the accident, so it cannot provide concrete data from the scene.
