Saxony-Anhalt train accident

The 2011 Saxony-Anhalt train accident occurred on January 29, 2011, when a freight train and a passenger train collided near Hordorf in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Several carriages derailed in the collision. Ten people were killed, and 23 people were wounded. Initial reports of 33 injured persons were later corrected to 23. Around 200 rescue workers were at the collision site, which is around 125 miles (201 km) south-west of Berlin, the Associated Press reported.

The commuter train with approximately 45 to 50 passengers on board was on a single track at a speed of approximately 62 miles per hour (100 km/h), where it collided with the freight train, which had a speed of about 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). The impact crushed parts of the passenger train. The cause of the accident, which occurred at about 22:30 CET (21:30 UTC), were not immediately known, though an investigation was launched into the incident. The crash caused several cars from the passenger train to derail, while the freight train remained on the track. According to Xinhua, "clothes, magazines, bags, shard of glass and broken seats scattered around the bush near the two trains. On the field whitened with snow and ice, dark red bloodstains and black imprints could be seen where the bodies used to be placed.
Since many people were severely injured, it was considered likely that the death toll could rise in the immediate aftermath of the incident. By 31 January, only two of the dead had been identified, as many of those killed had not had IDs with them. At least some of the people killed were of foreign nationality.




Provided By: wikipedia.org
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