At least three people have died and several others have been injured after a regional passenger train derailed in southern Germany on Sunday, according to police.
The accident happened on Sunday evening at around 6.10 pm (local time) on Sunday near the town of Riedlingen in Baden-Wuerttemberg state with as many as 100 passengers onboard the train, reported news agency AFP.
The number of passengers who have been injured is not yet confirmed.
According to Germany rail operator Deutsche Bahn, two carriages of the train derailed for reasons not yet known. The authorities are probing the incident.
“Near #Riedlingen, a regional train traveling from Sigmaringen to Ulm derailed today for unknown reasons. The exact situation is still unclear at this time. Our thoughts and sympathies are with the victims and everyone who now has to process this experience. More information will follow,” it wrote in a post on X.
Landslide could have caused accident
The local media reported that the area was hit by a severe storm previously. The authorities are probing whether the extreme weather conditions caused a landslide which could have caused the accident.
"There was heavy rainfall here, so it cannot be ruled out that the heavy rain and the associated landslide were also the cause," German news outlet Bild quoted Baden-Württemberg's Interior Minister Thomas Strobl as saying.
{{/usCountry}}"There was heavy rainfall here, so it cannot be ruled out that the heavy rain and the associated landslide were also the cause," German news outlet Bild quoted Baden-Württemberg's Interior Minister Thomas Strobl as saying.
{{/usCountry}}The train was going from Sigmaringen town to the city of Ulm in Germany when two of its coaches derailed in the middle of a forest. Visuals from the spot show yellow and grey coloured derailed coaches of the train turned to their sides as emergency personnel and rescuers climbed atop them.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz mourned the deaths of the victims of the accident and expressed condolences to their families. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he wrote in German, “The train accident in the Biberach district shocks me. I am in close contact with the Interior Minister and the Transport Minister and have asked them to support the rescue forces with all available means. We mourn the victims. I express my condolences to their relatives.”
With AFP inputs.