Three dead, several injured after train derails in Germany

According to police, at least three people were killed in a serious train accident in Baden-Württemberg. "Several people" were also injured when two carriages of a passenger train derailed in the Biberach district of Upper Swabia, a spokesperson for the Stuttgart Federal Police told the AFP news agency on Sunday evening.

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Authorities declined to elaborate on the number of injured or how seriously hurt they were, though tabloid Bild cited emergency workers saying there were 50 injured. German rail operator Deutsche Bahn confirmed several deaths and numerous injured. Two train carriages had derailed "for reasons yet unknown", it added.

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Based on the reports, two carriages of the regional train derailed on the route between Riedlingen and Munderkingen. According to police, the line will remain closed to traffic "until further notice. Authorities were currently investigating the circumstances of the accident, the operator said, and traffic had been suspended over a 40-kilometre (25-mile) stretch of the route.

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German media reported that a landslide might have caused the accident as severe storms swept through the region, according to weather services. The passenger train was travelling from the German town of Sigmaringen to the city of Ulm when it derailed in a forested area.

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Outdated train infrastructure

In a post on social media, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed his condolences to the families of those killed. He added that he was in close contact with both the interior and transport ministers, and had asked them to "provide the emergency services with all the support they need".

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Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder (CDU) expressed similar views. According to his spokesperson, the situation on site was "shocking." Currently, the full extent of the train accident near Riedlingen can "only be guessed at." He assured those affected of support. The federal government is in close contact with the railway. "Our experts are en route to investigate the cause of the accident together with the investigating authorities," he explained.

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Footage from the scene of the accident showed yellow-and-grey-coloured train carriages lying on their sides, as firefighters and emergency services tried to get to the passengers. According to local TV station SWR, helicopters arrived shortly after the accident to transport the injured to hospitals in the area, and emergency doctors from nearby hospitals were alerted. German transport is regularly criticised by passengers for its outdated infrastructure, with travellers facing frequent train delays, and various technical problems.

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The government has pledged to invest several hundred billion euros over the next few years, in particular to modernise infrastructure. In June 2022, a train derailed near a Bavarian Alpine resort in southern Germany, killing four people and injuring dozens. Germany's deadliest rail accident happened in 1998 when a high-speed train operated by state-owned Deutsche Bahn derailed in Eschede in Lower Saxony, killing 101 people.

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