A 26-year-old security employee of Deutsche Bahn suffered life-threatening injuries after falling from a moving train following a violent altercation with a passenger. The incident occurred on the railway line between Offenburg and Karlsruhe, the Karlsruhe public prosecutor's office and police announced in the early hours of Saturday. The 26-year-old employee was located during an extensive search operation along the tracks and taken to hospital.
According to police, ticket inspectors checked a 36-year-old German passenger on Friday evening. This reportedly led to a verbal argument, prompting two Deutsche Bahn security employees to be called in. The passenger, who was allegedly intoxicated, is said to have then insulted the two security employees.
A physical altercation subsequently broke out between the passenger and one of the security employees, police and prosecutors said. In their official statement, they explained: "During the scuffle, both parties fell to the ground. In the process, for reasons that remain unclear, the door of the moving train opened, and the 26-year-old fell from the train near Ettlingen-Bruchhausen."
Emergency services who were alerted arrested the suspect while he was still on the train, prosecutors and police said. During the search operation launched immediately afterwards, the railway employee — a 26-year-old Bulgarian national, was found roughly two kilometres beyond the point where the train later came to a stop. He had sustained life-threatening injuries and was taken to hospital for treatment.
Deutsche Bahn employees continue to be targeted by attacks time and again. In February, the death of a train conductor following an attack by a fare-dodging passenger in Rhineland-Palatinate caused shock across the country.
From breaking news to thought-provoking opinion pieces, our newsletter keeps you informed & engaged.
By subscribing, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
