Czech Republic: collision between two trains leaves several dead and injured

Several people were killed and dozens more injured in Wednesday’s collision between a German train and a Czech regional train in the village of Milavce, in the western Czech Republic, said the company responsible for the national rail network.

The collision, which took place at around 8 a.m. local time, occurred between a train of the German company Die Länderbahn GmbH which connected Munich in Germany to Prague and a regional train connecting the Czech cities of Plzen and Domazlice.

“Unfortunately, according to current information, a rail collision (…) left three dead and dozens injured,” said the company responsible for the Czech rail network, Sprava zeleznic, in a tweet.

Czech Transport Minister Karel Havlicek said the German train “did not respect the signal and collided with the regional train”. “The situation is serious,” he added, shortly before going to the scene.

Four helicopters, as well as several ambulances, and dozens of rescuers were dispatched to the scene.

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“The German Red Cross, the Bavarian Ambulance Service and doctors from (the city of) Cham are also at the scene of the train crash. The German police also offered to help, ” the Czech police said in a tweet.