A passenger train carrying 100 people has derailed in Germany, killing at least three people and wounding dozens of others, according to officials.
The crash happened on Sunday evening in a forested area near the town of Riedlingen in southwestern Baden-Wurttemberg state, roughly 158km (98 miles) west of the city of Munich.
Charlotte Ziller, the district fire chief, told reporters that the three victims included the train driver and an employee of Germany’s state-owned rail operator, Deutsche Bahn.
She said 50 people were injured in the crash, 25 of them seriously.
Deutsche Bahn confirmed several deaths and numerous injuries, and said that two train carriages had derailed “for reasons yet unknown”.
Authorities were currently investigating the circumstances of the accident, the operator said, and traffic had been suspended over a 40km (25-mile) stretch of the route.
Thomas Strobl, the interior minister of the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, said severe storms had swept through the region earlier, and that investigators are looking at whether the rains had caused the accident.
“There have been heavy rains here, so it cannot be ruled out that the heavy rain and a related landslide accident may have been the cause,” he said. “However, this is currently the subject of ongoing investigations.”
The train had been travelling from the town of Sigmaringen to the city of Ulm when it derailed.
In a post on social media, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed his condolences to the families of those killed.
He added that he was in close contact with both the interior and transport ministers, and had asked them to “provide the emergency services with all the support they need”.
Footage from the scene of the accident showed yellow- and grey-coloured train carriages lying on their sides, as firefighters and emergency services tried to get to the passengers.
According to the local television station SWR, helicopters arrived shortly after the accident to transport the injured to hospitals in the area, and emergency doctors from nearby hospitals were alerted.
Richard Lutz, the chief executive of Deutsche Bahn, said he would visit the scene of the accident on Monday.
He said the operator was deeply shocked and dismayed by the accident, and thanked all the emergency services and volunteers on the site.
“My heartfelt sympathy and condolences go out to the relatives of the deceased. I wish the injured a quick and full recovery,” he added.
The rail operator has set up a free special hotline for those affected and their relatives, according to the official DPA news agency. Emergency chaplains and psychologists are also available for affected travellers and employees, it added.
German transport is regularly criticised by passengers for its outdated infrastructure, with travellers facing frequent train delays and various technical problems.
The government has pledged to invest several hundred billion euros over the next few years, in particular to modernise infrastructure.
In June 2022, a train derailed near a Bavarian Alpine resort in southern Germany, killing four people and injuring dozens.
Germany’s deadliest rail accident happened in 1998 when a high-speed train operated by state-owned Deutsche Bahn derailed in Eschede in Lower Saxony, killing 101 people.
Travel by train in Germany remains far safer than travelling by car, with 2,770 people killed in crashes on Germany’s roads in 2024, according to Germany’s Federal Statistical Office.
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