After the heavy train collision with three dead in the Czech border area with Bavaria, the rescue work has begun. On Thursday, a crane arrived at the scene of the accident, which was supposed to lift the 80-ton locomotive back onto the tracks for transport to Germany. Rain and the muddy ground made it difficult to work on the single-track line. Replacement buses were in use in local and long-distance transport.
The Munich-Prague express train and an oncoming regional railcar collided head-on at Domazlice (Taus) on Wednesday morning. The two Czech train drivers and a woman from the railcar were killed. According to the emergency services, more than 60 people were injured. All ten seriously injured people who are treated in clinics in Prague and Pilsen (Plzen) are now out of danger.
Rescue workers are at the scene of the accident, a crane is now supposed to help rescue the train.
(Photo: Chaloupka Miroslav / dpa)
Ten Germans with moderate injuries had been brought to Bavaria for treatment. Tobias Muhr from the Bavarian Red Cross praised the cooperation with the Czech colleagues. Once a year there are cross-border exercises. “That has proven itself,” said Muhr, who was one of the first to arrive at the scene of the accident.
The reason for the collision could have been a disregarded stop signal
According to initial findings, the Munich-Prague express train passed a stop signal near Domažlice (Taus) near the German border near Furth im Wald, but the train driver is said to have braked at the last moment. Nevertheless, he collided with the local train, a so-called Regio Shark. The latter runs on the Plzeň-Domažlice route. Pictures made the force of the impact clear. The driver’s cabs of the locomotive and the railcar were completely destroyed and deeply dented.
The police are now determining whether a human error or a technical defect was responsible for the accident. The German association Allianz pro Schiene announced that the Czech Republic has some catching up to do with the infrastructure for safety systems on the rails. The property damage of the accident is estimated at more than four million euros.
The Czech Railway Inspectorate has also started an investigation that should take months. Accidents happen again and again on Czech railways. The security technology is considered out of date in many places. The government has launched a modernization program. Only a year ago two trains collided head-on in the Ore Mountains near the German border. Two people were killed, including a German.
The Länderbahn has set up a hotline for relatives. She can be reached under the number 0341 9135 4040, announced the company.