This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/09/bavaria-train-crash-german-police-report-deaths-and-injuries

The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Bavaria train crash: at least four dead in southern Germany Bavaria train crash: at least four dead in southern Germany
(35 minutes later)
Four people have died and 15 people left critically injured after two trains collided near Bad Aibling in the southern German state of Bavaria. At least four people have died and scores have been injured – 55 seriously – after two commuter trains collided in southern Germany, police have said.
The regional trains crashed head-on on the single track between Rosenheim and Holzkirchen shortly before 7am on Tuesday. The crash happened near the Bavarian town of Bad Aibling at 6.48am on Tuesday. Several carriages overturned after the trains, run by a local operator and travelling in opposite directions, collided head on.
“The current toll is four dead, 15 critically injured, 40 severely injured and a total of 100 injured,” police spokesman Martin Winkler told AFP. “Two trains have crashed. There are 150 injured, many of them seriously, and several dead,” a police spokesman said.
Another police spokesman, Stefan Sonntag, said: “This is the biggest accident we have had in years in this region and we have many emergency doctors, ambulances and helicopters on the scene.” The passengers were largely commuters travelling between Munich and Rosenheim. Because of school holidays, many children who would normally take the trains were not on board, a local newspaper said.
Some people were stuck inside the wreckage of the train and rescue staff were trying to free them, he said. The injured were taken to hospitals by helicopter. Rescue workers from across Bavaria are on the scene.
The German news agency DPA reported that one train derailed in the crash. It said eight rescue helicopters were standing by on a lawn near the entrance to Bad Aibling and further rescue staff were on the way to the scene. There is no information so far on the drivers of the trains or why they were on the single-lane track travelling in opposite directions at the same time.
“The accident is a huge shock for us. We’re doing everything to help the passengers, their relatives and train personnel,” Bernd Rosenbusch, head of the Bavarian overland train service BOB, told the local news portal Mangfall24.
The railway line between Holzkirchen and Rosenheim has been closed indefinitely, and a replacement bus service is in operation. A press conference is expected to take place at midday.