BERLIN — Authorities said Friday that at least four people were killed and many more were injured in a train accident in the Alps of southern Germany.
Police said the regional train headed for Munich appeared to have derailed shortly after noon in Burgrain — just outside the resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, from where it had set off. People were able to escape the windows of three double-deck carriages that had been partially or completely overturned.
On Twitter, police stated that four people had been killed. The number of people injured was around 30, according to police. 15 of them were severely injured and taken to hospital.
Investigators are still investigating the cause of the train derailment. Around 140 people were aboard the train, including many students returning from Whitsun school.
Bavaria’s Governor Markus Soeder and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed shock and sadness at the tragedy.
Scholz stated that “everything is being done in order to help those injured, and to whom we wish speedy recovery.” “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.”
Soeder stated that students aboard the train were looking forward to the holidays.
“Lots of respect and thanks to the rescue services for their swift help,” he tweeted.The line between Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Oberau, north of the accident site, was closed. This area is close to the Austrian border.
German train travel is very popular with commuters as well as tourists. There are many local and long-distance trains.
Although accidents are less common than those on the roads, rail fatalities have increased in recent years.
A train dispatcher was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison over a 2016 crash that killed 12 people in Bad Aibling, about 50 miles northeast of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Shortly before the collision of two trains on a single track line, the dispatcher admitted to playing a game on his smartphone.
