BAD AIBLING, Germany: Two commuter trains crashed head-on in southern Germany on Tuesday, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 100, in one of the country’s deadliest rail accidents in years.
Hundreds of rescuers were scouring for more passengers trapped in the wreckage in a wooded area near Bad Aibling, a spa town about 60 kilometres (40 miles) southeast of Munich.
At least two carriages from one train were overturned, while the front of the other was crushed. Blue, yellow and silver metal debris was strewn around the crash site next to a river in the southern state of Bavaria.
“We now have nine dead,” said police spokesman Juergen Thalmeier. One person was still missing, likely trapped in the wreckage, police added in a statement.
Eighteen people were seriously injured and 90 had light injuries, added police in a statement.
The two train drivers and two conductors were among those killed, local broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk reported.
An investigation is ongoing to determine if the accident was caused by “a technical problem or human error,” Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt told rolling news channel NTV from the scene.
Hundreds of firefighters, emergency services workers and police officers were deployed in the rescue operation, which was complicated because the forest crash site was difficult to access, said Thalmeier.
Rescuers focused on the impact area of the trains, using electric saws to cut through the mangled wreckage.
Rescue workers from nearby Austria were also on site, NTV said.
Underlining the difficulty of the emergency operation, mountain rescuer Joerg Becker told NTV: “The terrain is not only difficult to access but the large number of injured also requires a massive coordination effort between so many rescue and aid groups.”
