Ten dead, 108 injured in Germany train collision

Among the 108 people injured, 18 were in a serious condition, after the crash at a peak commuter time of 6.48 am (0548 GMT) near Bad Aibling in the southern state of Bavaria near the border with Austria. The two train drivers were among those killed.

At least ten people were killed and more than 100 were injured when two passenger trains collided head-on near a Bavarian town about 60 km southeast of Munich on Tues-day, the German police said. Among the 108 people injured, 18 were in a serious condition, after the crash at a peak commuter time of 6.48 am (0548 GMT) near Bad Aibling in the southern state of Bavaria near the border with Austria. One of the trains was derailed.

The two train drivers and two conductors were among those killed, local broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk reported.

Dozens of rescue teams were on site and helicopters took some of the casualties to nearby hospitals. The area was sealed off and alongside the rescue effort, a crash investigation had begun, the police said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed shock at the news. “I am dismayed and saddened by the serious train accident this morning at Bad Aibling,” Ms Merkel said. “My sympathy goes out especially to the families of the nine people who have lost their lives.”

The trains’ operator, Meridian, is part of French passenger transport firm Transdev, which is jointly owned by state-owned bank CDC and water and waste firm Veolia. Transdev said in a statement that management and staff were terribly shocked by the “exceptionally serious accident” and that chief executive Jean-Marc Janaillac was at the scene.

German transport minister Alexander Dobrindt, also at the site of the crash, said it was unclear whether it had been due to a technical failure or hum-an error. State-owned Deu-tsche Bahn is responsible for the track. The line has a system that makes a train brake automatically if it goes through a red light.