|
|
|
|
|
14 April 2023
|
Train crashes into maintenance crane, killing one; dozens hurt, Netherlands
|
|
|
|
A Dutch passenger train rammed into a maintenance crane that stood on the railway tracks early on Tuesday, 4 April 2023, near The Hague, killing the equipment operator and injuring dozens of passengers as the train derailed. The front carriage of the night train from Leiden city to The Hague, one of the Netherland's busiest routes, hit the crane and derailed, ploughing into a field by the village of Voorschoten, emergency services said. "There was just panic" on the train after the crash but emergency services were quick to arrive and evacuate people, said Ingrid de Roos from the Hollands Midden emergency services. The accident happened at around 03h25am.
A second carriage lay on its side. The double-decker train's windows were smashed.
Dutch media reported a fire had broken out after the accident.
Dutch construction group BAM confirmed that an employee had died in the accident. The driver of the passenger train was in hospital with bone fractures, Dutch railways NS CEO Wouter Koolmees said at the news conference.
Emergency services worked through the night to treat victims, while several injured people were also treated in the homes of people living nearby.
19 of those wounded were taken to hospital, while some of the others were treated on the spot or in nearby homes.
The maintenance work was planned and standard, but "we have no idea how the crane got on the track which was still open for traffic," John Voppen, the CEO of railway infrastructure firm ProRail, told a news conference. "The crane was part of maintenance work on two tracks which were closed for traffic, while two other of the total of four tracks remained open for train traffic," said ProRail's Voppen.
"I have been working in the rail industry for years and I don't understand how this could have happened. We are going to launch a full inquiry."
A freight train had hit the crane as well, ProRail said.
Train services were suspended for days on the route between The Hague and Leiden due to the incident.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the Netherlands' royal family were among those who expressed their sympathy for the victims. "My thoughts are with the relatives and with all the victims. I wish them all the best," Rutte said in a tweet.
The king, wearing an orange high-visibility vest, spoke to emergency workers and walked along the tracks when he visited the scene. "We deeply sympathise with all of them," King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima said. Willem-Alexander later visited the site of the accident, about 10 kilometres from his residential palace.
The accident was the most serious in the Netherlands for years, according to public broadcaster NOS.
The Netherlands' worst train disaster happened on 8 January 1962, when two passenger trains crashed after a driver missed a signal in thick fog at Harmelen, near the central city of Utrecht, killing 93 people and injuring 52 others.
Source: Reuters, Associated Press
A second carriage lay on its side. The double-decker train's windows were smashed.
Dutch media reported a fire had broken out after the accident.
Dutch construction group BAM confirmed that an employee had died in the accident. The driver of the passenger train was in hospital with bone fractures, Dutch railways NS CEO Wouter Koolmees said at the news conference.
Emergency services worked through the night to treat victims, while several injured people were also treated in the homes of people living nearby.
19 of those wounded were taken to hospital, while some of the others were treated on the spot or in nearby homes.
The maintenance work was planned and standard, but "we have no idea how the crane got on the track which was still open for traffic," John Voppen, the CEO of railway infrastructure firm ProRail, told a news conference. "The crane was part of maintenance work on two tracks which were closed for traffic, while two other of the total of four tracks remained open for train traffic," said ProRail's Voppen.
"I have been working in the rail industry for years and I don't understand how this could have happened. We are going to launch a full inquiry."
A freight train had hit the crane as well, ProRail said.
Train services were suspended for days on the route between The Hague and Leiden due to the incident.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the Netherlands' royal family were among those who expressed their sympathy for the victims. "My thoughts are with the relatives and with all the victims. I wish them all the best," Rutte said in a tweet.
The king, wearing an orange high-visibility vest, spoke to emergency workers and walked along the tracks when he visited the scene. "We deeply sympathise with all of them," King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima said. Willem-Alexander later visited the site of the accident, about 10 kilometres from his residential palace.
The accident was the most serious in the Netherlands for years, according to public broadcaster NOS.
The Netherlands' worst train disaster happened on 8 January 1962, when two passenger trains crashed after a driver missed a signal in thick fog at Harmelen, near the central city of Utrecht, killing 93 people and injuring 52 others.
Source: Reuters, Associated Press
