At least one person was killed and 30 injured, many seriously, when a passenger train carrying around 50 people derailed in the Netherlands early Tuesday after colliding with construction machinery on the track, emergency services said. dutch.
The accident occurred around 3:25 a.m. in Voorschoten, a town near The Hague. Emergency teams worked at dawn to rescue the injured. A spokesman for the fire brigade told Dutch radio that 19 people have been taken to hospital, while others were being treated at the scene.
“This is an incredibly tragic accident. I sympathize with the victims. Unfortunately, one fatality is also to be regretted. My thoughts are with all the families and friends of those involved,” Voorschoten Mayor Nadine said in a statement. Stemerdink.
Carola Belderbos, an official with the Dutch Railways, explained that the train collided with the crane and that among the injured were the driver and two conductors.
The front car of the night train from Leiden to The Hague plunged into a field after the accident, the ANP news agency reported. The second carriage was left on its side and a fire broke out in the rear carriage, which was extinguished.
The causes of the accident are still unclear, with different versions. The first reports indicated that the passenger train had collided with a freight train. Dutch Railways spokesman Erik Kroeze said a freight train carrying chalk was involved in the accident but was unable to provide further details.
Jeroen Wienen of Prorail, the company in charge of maintaining the tracks, said several investigations had been launched, both by the company itself and by the police and the Dutch Safety Board, which studies serious accidents.
“This is a very, very unique accident, but it is a horrible accident,” Wienen told Reuters at the scene. “At Prorail we are doing the investigation mainly to see what happened and how we can avoid this in the future.”
Dutch Railways said in a tweet that trains between Leiden and The Hague were canceled due to the accident.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the Dutch royal family were among those who expressed their condolences for the victims. “A terrible train accident near Voorschoten, where unfortunately one person died and many people were injured. My thoughts are with the families and all the victims. I wish them the best,” Rutte said in a tweet.
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