VOORSCHOTEN, Netherlands (AP) — A train derailed near The Hague in the early hours of Tuesday, sending two carriages into a field near the tracks, Dutch emergency services said. One person died and about 30 passengers were injured, many of them seriously.
Television footage showed people using makeshift bridges to cross a canal that runs alongside the tracks to reach the stricken train in the dark. Many carriage windows were broken. It is not clear if this happened during the crash or when the passengers tried to escape.
Photos from the scene showed two bright yellow and blue carriages perpendicular to the tracks, over a small canal and partly in a field. What appeared to be the front of the train was badly damaged. Other parts of the train were partially derailed.
Footage showed a freight train stopped and on the tracks near the wreckage of the passenger train.
Injured passengers were treated in houses near the line and taken by a fleet of ambulances to hospitals, including a “disaster hospital” opened in the central city of Utrecht.
The cause of the crash, which happened around 03:25 (0125 GMT) in the small town of Voorschoten near The Hague, was not immediately clear. Dutch media reported that a small construction crane was on the tracks, but authorities did not immediately confirm this.
Local firefighters tweeted after the incident that it appeared to be a collision between a passenger train and “construction material”.
“A terrible train accident near Voorschoten where unfortunately one person died and many people were injured. My thoughts go out to the relatives and all the victims. I wish them all the best,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in a tweet.
Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima also expressed their solidarity in a tweet.
Ingrid de Roos, a spokeswoman for the local fire department, told WNL News that a small fire started in the back of the train but was quickly extinguished.
John Voppen, chief executive of network company Pro Rail, called the accident “a black day for Dutch railways” and said the cause was being investigated.
Corder reported from The Hague.
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