At least 9 dead, scores hurt as two passenger trains collide in Germany

Police say at least nine people have died and about 100 have been injured — 15 very seriously — as two passengers trains collided head-on in southern Germany. The passenger trains crashed near Bad Aibling, around 40 miles south-east of Munich, at 6.48am local time, causing several wagons to overturn. Hours after the crash, hundreds of rescuers are still working to free people trapped in the wreckage but the crash happened near the River Mangfall in a hilly, forest region, described as “very inaccessible” by a spokesman for the German Federal Police.

This is the biggest accident we have had in years in this region and we have many emergency doctors, ambulances and helicopters on the scene.

Police spokesman Stefan Sonntag

The trains both partially derailed and are wedged into each other, according to the train company. Around a dozen rescue helicopters, some from neighbouring Austria, have been waiting in a forest clearing as rescuers emerge with stretchers carrying those hurt. Meanwhile, an investigation has begun into what caused the crash but experts said the key may lie in the fact that the trains were on a single railway track. German transport minister Alexander Dobrindt said each train was travelling around a curve at an estimated speed of around 100kmph (62mph), adding: “We expect that both drivers did not have sight contact previously and, therefore, collided without being able to brake or slow down.”

We are doing everything to help the passengers, relatives and employees.

Bernd Rosenbusch, the head of the Bayerische Oberlandbahn, which runs the trains.

Bavaria trains