At least 47 people were injured when a passenger train crashed into a freight train near the western German city of Duesseldorf on Tuesday, prompting a large rescue operation.<\/p>\n
At least three of the passengers were \u201cbadly hurt\u201d while the vast majority suffered light injuries, the Meerbusch fire department said on Twitter, giving the overall toll.<\/p>\n
The train was carrying 155 people. It was not immediately clear what caused the accident, which happened at around 7.30 pm (1830 GMT) near the station of Meerbusch-Osterath in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany\u2019s most populous state.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rescue services on the ground have the situation under control. The injured people are gradually being transferred to hospital,\u201d the fire department tweeted.<\/p>\n
A spokeswoman for Germany\u2019s state-owned rail operator Deutsche Bahn told DPA news agency that its DB Cargo train was apparently stationary when the regional train operated by Britain\u2019s National Express slammed into it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no sense of panic,\u201d 19-year-old Lukas Kehler who had been on board the train told regional television station WDR.<\/p>\n
Emergency services deployed after the accident but access to the train was hindered by ruptured contact wires which first had to be made safe to prevent electric shocks, according to the Meerbusch fire department.<\/p>\n
Rescue workers were able to reach those injured by 9.15 pm, it said.<\/p>\n
The fire department tweeted a picture showing the train\u2019s moderately damaged first carriage, while other carriages appeared largely unaffected.<\/p>\n
Both trains were still standing upright on the tracks.<\/p>\n
The National Express driver was freed from his mangled cab by firefighters, the federal police said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe appears unharmed but he is in shock,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
A National Express spokesman told Bild newspaper that the driver \u201cnoticed an obstacle on the track and immediately hit the emergency brake\u201d.<\/p>\n
Images from the scene showed many firefighters along the tracks, while the blue sirens of a long line of emergency vehicles could be seen in the distance.<\/p>\n
Chancellor Angela Merkel has been briefed on the crash and \u201cis following the situation closely\u201d, her spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Twitter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope all those injured will be helped as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
In May, seven people were lightly injured when a regional train derailed in eastern Germany.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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