Germany Train Crash Kill at least 4 Passenger, injure others
In a country preparing to host the G7 summit in late June, a Germany train crashed near a Bavarian Alpine resort in the southern part on Friday, killing at least four people and wounding others.
A grassy area near to a roadway had several carriages of the red-colored local railway resting on their sides.
Rescuers climbed into the waggons using ladders from the top-facing side of the coaches to reach trapped passengers.
“In the serious train accident, as of 3:32 pm (1532 GMT), four people were fatally injured, Around 30 passengers were injured, 15 of them so seriously that they have had to be admitted to nearby hospitals” police said in a statement.
Three of the victims were found dead, according to Bavaria’s interior minister Joachim Herrmann, while a fourth succumbed to her injuries on the way to the hospital.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his sadness at the catastrophe and expressed his condolences to the victims’ families.
The disaster occurred as rail officials waited to see if a new nine-euro ($10) monthly public transportation ticket valid throughout Germany would result in overcrowded trains over the bank holiday weekend.
Is it Technical Casuality?
The regional train was “extremely busy and many people were utilizing it,” according to Stefan Sonntag of the Upper Bavarian police department.
In the two southern German states of Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria, school holidays began on Saturday, heightening fears that children may be among the injured.
Teenagers were seen on the rails in images shown on German media, probably after climbing out of the train.
The train had just departed Garmisch-Partenkirchen for Munich when the accident occurred just after lunchtime in the Burgrain district of the vacation town.
According to German rail operator Deutsche Bahn, a section of the track between Munich and Garmisch-Partenkirchen has been closed and traffic has been diverted. The cause of the accident has not yet been determined.
However, Christian Bernreiter, Bavaria’s transport minister, told regional TV BR that the accident could have been caused by a technological problem.
“With no third parties engaged, one must conclude that a technical issue — either on the car or on the rail — was the cause,” he said.
Even when Germany began offering a significantly discounted three-month monthly transit ticket in June to combat inflation, Deutsche Bahn warned that significant investments would be required to modernize the lines.
Rescue operation
On Monday, Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz remarked, “We face a challenge that is difficult to address in the short term – to grow and modernize at the same time.”
Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the surrounding region have began planning for the G7 summit of world leaders, which will take place later this month.
The heads of state and government, including US President Joe Biden, will gather in Schloss Elmau, which is 11 kilometers (seven miles) from Garmisch-Partenkirchen, from June 26 to 28.
Police and troops who had been assigned to prepare and secure the summit location have now been called upon to assist in the rescue effort.
According to media accounts, three helicopters from Austria’s Tyrol area were dispatched to the location to give first assistance.
The deadliest rail accident in Germany occurred in 1998, when a state-owned Deutsche Bahn high-speed train derailed near Eschede, Lower Saxony, killing 101 passengers.
The most recent fatal accident occurred on February 14, 2022, when two local trains collided near Munich, killing one person and injuring 14 others.
A passenger train and a halted freight train collided near Duesseldorf, Germany, in 2017, injuring 41 persons.
AFP
