3 dead and more than 50 injured in a train crash involving two passenger trains coliding head-on during the morning commute.
A train travelling from Munich to Prague crashed head-on with a commuter train 30 miles from Pilsen, Czech Republic
The following written content from Chris Kitching
Three people were killed and more than 50 injured after two passenger trains collided head-on during the morning commute.
Both drivers and a woman, who was a passenger, were killed, and eight people were in a serious condition in hospitals in the Czech Republic, said officials.
Fire department commander Jaroslav Hrdlicka said earlier that rescue workers were looking for one missing person in the wreckage. That person, a driver, was later found dead.
Deputy Prime Minister Karel Havlicek said one of the trains – a high-speed Western Express service travelling from Munich to Prague – ran through a stop signal shortly before the crash in the Czech countryside.
Passengers were thrown around when it slammed into a regional commuter train on a single-track line near the village of Milavce, close to the border with Germany, at about 8 am local time on Wednesday.
Dozens of rescuers from the Czech Republic and Germany rushed to the scene to remove passengers from carriages and treat the injured, including many who suffered bumps, cuts and bruises.
One of the drivers who died was a German national.
Several of those who were in a critical condition were airlifted to nearby hospitals.
At least one of the trains derailed, with video showing firefighters standing next to a severely-damaged driver’s cabin.
Ambulance service spokeswoman Maria Svobodova told iRozhlas as the tragedy unfolded: “The incident happened ten minutes after eight in the morning. Two trains collided.
“There are a large number of injured people on the site, so far we are still assessing them.
“At present, four helicopters, ten cars of the Pilsen rescue service and two from South Bohemia are at the scene.”
Domazlice’s hospital declared a critical incident, postponing all operations and vacating beds to cope with the arrival of injured passengers, it was reported.
A hospital in Pilsen put out an urgent call for people to donate blood.
Officials set up a phone hotline for the families of the dead and injured, and people who feared a loved one was on board one of the trains.
Crisis counselling was offered to survivors at the scene. Read more from Mirror
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