At least 4 people were killed as a result of a head-on collision between two trains
Four were killed and dozens were injured as a result of a head-on collision between two trains in the Czech Republic. A passenger train en route to Ukraine carrying more than 300 people collided with a freight train in the Czech city of Pardubice, officials say.
Four people were killed and 26 injured when a Ukraine-bound passenger train collided with a freight train in the Czech city of Pardubice, officials said.
“I can confirm that four people received injuries incompatible with life,” Alena Kisiala, a representative of the local emergency management agency, told Czech television.
The crash occurred on Wednesday evening in Pardubice, on the section of the country’s main railway connection with Prague, about 60 km from west of the city, reports The Guardian.
Czech television said there were more than 300 passengers on the train, many of whom were foreigners.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala expressed his condolences on social media platform X, calling the incident a “a big disaster” and stating that “we are all thinking about the victims and wounded”.
The Czech Republic's interior and transport ministers arrived at the scene early Thursday morning. Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said that most of the victims escaped with minor injuries and that passengers were evacuated to the train station building.
Rakusan said police were identifying the passengers who had gathered at the station after operator Regiojet provided passenger list.
Rescue workers said nine ambulances, two helicopters and more than 60 firefighters, both professional and volunteer, were sent to the scene.
“Rescue efforts were complicated by the fact that the first carriage was deformed. This made access to the victims difficult,” firefighter Pavel Ber told reporters at the scene.
The train was heading to the western Ukrainian city of Chop, located near the border with Slovakia, writes The Guardian.
According to According to the schedule, the train departs Prague at 19:52 GMT and was scheduled to leave Pardubice at 20:47 GMT. Arrival at Chop after crossing Slovakia was expected on Thursday at 08:35 GMT.
Transport Minister Martin Kupka said an investigation into the cause of the accident was currently underway.
He added that the main railway corridor connecting Prague with the Czech second city Brno and the third city Ostrava would remain closed for at least several hours.
Footage of the crash on news site idnes.cz showed at least one carriage derailed, while police showed a convoy of emergency vehicles and a helicopter on their social media account X.< /p>
A railway administration fire department spokesman told Czech television that several people were seriously injured.
Local fire brigade spokeswoman Vendula Horakova told Czech television that the freight train was carrying calcium carbide.
In 1960, The Guardian recalls, Pardubice also saw the worst train disaster in Czech history, when 118 people were killed and about 100 injured in a head-on collision between two passenger trains north of the city.