At least one person was killed and 30 injured, many seriously, when a high-speed passenger train today ploughed into heavy construction equipment and derailed in the Netherlands.
Rescue teams were seen ferrying away the injured in pre-dawn darkness at the scene of the accident at Voorschoten, a village near The Hague. The accident happened around 3:25 a.m. (0125 GMT), the emergency services said.
The double-decker train was travelling between Amsterdam and The Hague and was carrying some 60 people when it derailed.
At least 19 people with serious injuries were taken to hospital in a fleet of ambulances while others were treated on the spot, a fire department spokesperson said, adding that 11 injured people were being looked after at the homes of nearby residents.
‘One person has died and at least 30 people have been injured. The seriously injured are being taken to hospital, while 11 are at homes of nearby residents,’ Hollands Midden emergency services said. ‘Specialists are working to secure the train.’
At least one person was killed and 30 injured, many seriously, when a high-speed passenger train today ploughed into heavy construction equipment and derailed in the Netherlands
Emergency services work on the site of a derailed train in Voorschoten, on April 4
The double decker train was travelling between Amsterdam and The Hague and was carrying some 60 people when it derailed
Rescue teams were seen ferrying away the injured in pre-dawn darkness at the scene of the accident at Voorschoten, a village near The Hague
The front carriage of the night train from Leiden city to The Hague derailed and ploughed into a field after the accident, while a second carriage flipped on its side.
One carriage was suspended over a small ditch with water and a third carriage remained upright, while a fourth caught fire, the ANP news agency said.
Several ambulances and a helicopter were deployed to take seriously injured passengers to hospital.
‘We heard a loud bang and suddenly the lights went out,’ an unidentified witness told the local Omroep West television news.
‘We couldn’t initially get out of the train because there was no electricity,’ said the man, who appeared in a state of shock.
‘Eventually we got after what felt like hours,’ the man added.
The cause of the accident was not immediately clear. Dutch media reported that there was a small construction crane on the tracks, but authorities did not immediately confirm that.
The front carriage of the night train from Leiden city to The Hague derailed and ploughed into a field after the accident, while a second carriage flipped on its side
One carriage was suspended over a small ditch with water and a third carriage remained upright, while a fourth caught fire, the ANP news agency said
A general view shows rescue operations underway following the derailment of a passenger train after it hit construction equipment on the track, in Voorschoten, Netherlands, on Tuesday
Several ambulances and a helicopter were deployed to take seriously injured passengers to hospital
Emergency services work on the site of a derailed train in Voorschoten, on April 4
A rescue team can be seen by the tracks after the train derailed in the early hours of the morning
Voorschoten Mayor Nadine Stemerdink described the shocking incident as ‘an incredibly tragic incident’
John Voppen, CEO of the rail network company Pro Rail, called the accident ‘a black day for Dutch railways’
Services on the busy link, used by trains running from Amsterdam to Brussels and Paris have been halted and will not resume until the afternoon, rail officials said.
‘This is an incredibly tragic accident,’ Voorschoten Mayor Nadine Stemerdink said. ‘We regret there was also a fatality. My thoughts go out to all the family and friends of those involved.’
John Voppen, CEO of the rail network company Pro Rail, called the accident ‘a black day for Dutch railways and said the cause was under investigation.
The Netherland’s worst train disaster happened on January 8, 1962, when two passenger trains crashed at Harmelen, near the central city of Utrecht, killing 93 people and injuring 52 others.
That accident occurred in thick fog when a train driver missed a warning signal and the two trains hit head-on.
One person was killed and six others were injured when a train collided with a hydraulic crane in central Netherlands in 2016.
Another person died and 117 others were injured in a collision near Amsterdam in April 2012 with reports later saying a driver failed to respect a stop sign.
