Русская версияThe train was carrying some 400 passengers -- many of them young
music lovers en route to a festival in the Czech town of Pardubice.
Lukas Humpl, spokesman for the local rescue service, said rescue
crews were scrambling to help victims at the scene.
Train going from Krakow to Prague
The international train was en route from the Polish city of Krakow
to Prague, police spokeswoman Miroslavva Michalkova-Salkova told
AFP news service.
"It's horrible," she said.
"It's a disaster. All the rescue
services have been mobilized."
The number of deaths has yet to be certified, with some reports
saying 10 people have died.
Sixteen fire brigade units with 30 vehicles had been sent to the
scene, along with ambulances and helicopters to ferry the injured
to local hospitals.
"We have conducted a search of the site," fire service spokesman
Petr Kudela told the dpa news agency. "We hope no-one else is there
A Czech railways spokesman said the train was travelling at 140
kilometers an hour (about 87 miles per hour) when it hit part of a
road bridge which had fallen on to the track.
Cause of accident still unclear
"It probably hit part of a motorway bridge under construction which
fell on to the track," said the spokesman Jan Kucera.
The locomotive and three passenger carriages were derailed.
"There's a lot of damage," he said.
However, a fire brigade spokesman quoted by the Czech national
television CT said the bridge collapsed on to the leading carriages
of the train as it was passing underneath, AFP reported.
(Deutsche Welle)
more info >>
<< Back