Passenger train accident left one person dead and several more wounded

A passenger train accident left one person dead and several more wounded.

Dutch officials speculate that the incident could have been caused by a construction crane.

Many individuals were hurt, some of them critically, in an overnight train accident in the Netherlands, according to local authorities and the media. At least one person was killed.

The event occurred on Tuesday at around 3:25 a.m. (01:25 GMT), as the Leiden to The Hague night train was travelling through the nearby town of Voorschoten.

Pictures from the incident revealed one carriage had slammed into a field while another was laying sideways on the track. An emergency services representative said that a minor fire had started in the back carriage but had been immediately put out.

Over 50 passengers were on the train, 30 of whom had injuries, according to Netherlands Railways (NS). Some needed care for minor wounds right after, but 19 people were brought to hospitals, including one that had been set up in Utrecht, the city’s centre, in response to the emergency.

At first, it was believed that a collision with a freight train was to blame for the accident. A local emergency response organisation afterwards hypothesised that a small construction crane could have been placed on the rail.

The apparatus is said to have been discovered at the crash scene, although its involvement in the disaster has not yet been definitively proven.

The disaster was dubbed “a bad day for Dutch railways” by John Voppen, CEO of the ProRail network, who also expressed his sympathies to those impacted. Nadine Stemerdink, the mayor of Voorschoten, called the situation “very terrible” and extended her sympathies.

Due to the accident, NS announced through Twitter that there will be no trains running between Leiden and The Hague.