Two freight trains crash near Munich

[Acathater]

MSN

One person has died after two cargo trains crashed into each other on a bridge in Germany

Munich train crash horror as carriages derail and plunge off bridge​

One person has died after two cargo trains crashed into each other on a bridge in Germany, sending two derailed wagons plunging onto the road below. The fatal collision happened in the early hours of Saturday in the northern Munich district of Milbertshofen, with emergency crews rushing to the scene.

Local police confirmed one person was killed in the incident, while investigators are working to establish exactly what caused the crash. Emergency services were first alerted to the incident at around 1.40am local time, with approximately 60 first responders sent to the scene. Officers said: "Two freight trains were carrying out shunting operations on a railway overpass in Milbertshofen at around 1.40am. A collision occurred, during which one of the two freight trains was pushed towards Schleißheimer Straße and fell off."

Authorities confirmed the wagons which plunged from the bridge were not carrying any cargo or passengers at the time. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn said the affected line is used exclusively for freight rail traffic.

The two wagons came to rest side by side on Schleißheimer Straße, with one end of each carriage remaining suspended from the bridge. "That two trains collided and fell from a bridge - unbelievable," a fire department spokesperson said.

BR24 (Bayerischer Rundfunk) reported that two freight wagons from one of the trains fell around five metres from the bridge, where recovery operations and a police investigation forced the road to close.

Recovery crews have now begun the complex operation to remove the multi-tonne carriages from the street.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Here is a photo showing the two wagons which came off the bridge.

Photo: The Independent

 

[Beebman]

BR24 in Munich has posted a 6-minute video (in German) with a report from the scene:

https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/Y3JpZDovL2JyLmRlL2Jyb2FkY2FzdC9GMjAyNldPMDA0NTg2QTA

AIUI recovery work will begin but with no estimate yet as to how long it will take, also there's been no assessment yet of any possible damage to the bridge. It was also mentioned that it was fortunate that there was no traffic on the road at that time of night, it's a very busy route.

EDIT: Apologies, the report was actually from yesterday and it seems that recovery work was progressed to allow the road to partly reopen (again in German):

https://www.br.de/nachrichten/bayer...-in-muenchen-bergungsarbeiten-beendet,VN9HmYa

The victim was a 46-year-old member of railway staff involved with shunting. It is believed that both trains were on parallel tracks and that they collided on a set of points.

 

[Jamesrob637]

R.I.P to the deceased and their family. I used to live only a few minutes drive from there and know that road well.