A regional train derailed near Burgrain near Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Friday. Some wagons are lying on their side, five people are dead and at least 30 are injured. The clean-up work is still ongoing. How the accident happened is currently unclear. All important information in the news ticker from FOCUS Online.
The essentials in brief:
5.35 p.m .: According to a newspaper report, Deutsche Bahn was planning timely renovation work on the section of track near Garmisch-Partenkirchen on which there was a train accident with five dead on Friday. For June 25th, a good three weeks after the accident, a “track position correction” between Oberau and Farchant was planned, reported the “Welt”, citing a list from DB Netz AG with pending construction work.
The company responsible for the railway infrastructure also wanted to carry out a track renewal on the route between Oberau and Farchant one week after this construction measure. In addition, rails were to be renewed in Garmisch-Partenkirchen at night from July 5th to 9th. On the section between Oberau and Garmisch-Partenkirchen is the town of Burgrain, where a regional train derailed on Friday for reasons that have not yet been clarified.
According to the report, Deutsche Bahn did not want to provide any information on the planned work and a possible connection with the accident in view of the ongoing investigations. The independent Federal Office for Railway Investigation BEU confiscated the accident train and also examined the tracks for track position errors, wrote the “Welt”.
The term track geometry error describes deviations in the height or width of the rail track from the desired dimensions, comparable to a bump in the ground on a road. This could cause a train to derail.
The Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told Bayerischer Rundfunk on Monday that the cause of the accident was being “searched for with a focus on technical defects”. Wagon chassis have already been secured, “and it is also being considered at the moment to what extent individual rails or sleepers must be secured. In any case, they are being meticulously examined and measured at the moment,” said the minister.
11:14 a.m .: The two major churches are planning a memorial service for June 11 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising said on request that further details would be announced in the course of the week. On Monday evening, the Catholic and Protestant churches invited to a joint ecumenical prayer in the parish church Maria Himmelfahrt in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Monday, June 6, 7:58 a.m .: After the train accident that killed five people in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the emergency services interrupted the clean-up work on Sunday evening. It should continue on Monday. The scene of the accident was “secured, cordoned off and guarded,” said a police spokesman. Work will continue on Whit Monday in the morning. In the train accident on Friday near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, five people died and more than 40 were injured. The clean-up work is time-consuming – cranes heave the derailed cars onto a street, then they are dismantled and transported away on low-loaders.
The work will continue to affect road traffic. Traffic is diverted from Autobahn 95 in the direction of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Sindelsdorf (Weilheim-Schongau district). Traffic from the Augsburg region is diverted from the federal highway 17 to Füssen in the direction of the Fernpass. Traffic from Mittenwald/Innsbruck is routed at Krün in the direction of Bundesstraße 11. Access to the Passion Play in nearby Oberammergau is still possible, it said.
3.43 p.m .: After the train accident in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the police were able to clarify the last open cases of missing persons. In the meantime, you know where you are from all the people who have been reported missing since Friday afternoon. This was announced by a spokesman for the police headquarters in Upper Bavaria South on Sunday. As of Saturday afternoon, seven people were still missing.
3:02 p.m .: The first carriage of the crashed train has been removed. It was cut in two in the morning and recently lifted onto a low-loader by a special crane.
Another wagon that was hanging in the embankment could be lifted with two cranes. A substructure made of logs is built for him. Then it should be placed on the B2 federal road and also transported away from there.
Contrary to initial announcements, the locomotive and the first, undamaged wagon are to remain on the tracks for the time being. The police said this was happening for investigative reasons.
11.06 a.m .: According to the police, the identification of the five fatalities is largely complete. Accordingly, there are three women aged 32, 39 and 70 years and, according to previous knowledge, a 51-year-old. The fifth victim recovered on Saturday was a teenage boy, police said on Sunday.
Two of the women who died in the serious train accident in Garmisch-Partenkirchen are said to be refugees from Ukraine. According to the report, both were staying with host families nearby. One of the women is said to have had her child with her, who is now in the hospital with serious injuries.
According to “Bild am Sonntag”, another woman who was among the 140 passengers on the train is also said to be in mortal danger. Seven to 14 people are still missing. On Sunday, a 250-ton rail crane is to be used to search for other missing persons and to salvage the train. This was brought to Bavaria from the Ruhr area.
There is currently no new information on the cause of the accident, only a collision with another train can be ruled out. According to “Bild am Sonntag”, the focus of the investigations is on checking whether the track bed was still intact.
Sunday, June 5th, 4:20 a.m.: After the victims were recovered from the scene of the train accident in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the helpers are now concentrating on the clean-up work. According to the police, the main road next to the tracks is expected to remain closed on one side until the middle of the week. Traffic in Sindelsdorf (Weilheim-Schongau district) will be diverted from Autobahn 95 in the direction of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
10:46 p.m .: At the accident site in Burgrain, work should continue overnight. Two more wagons are to be salvaged on Sunday. In the meantime, a third and larger crane has arrived at the scene of the accident, reports the “BR”.
8:17 p.m .: The emergency services would not expect any further fatalities under the two wagons that have not yet been raised. The expert from the Technical Relief Agency, Stephen Jaklitsch, said the “BR”. “We knew from the course of the accident that people were probably thrown out in the middle wagon,” he said. This fear does not exist with the other wagons. However, there is only safety when all wagons have been lifted off the track bed.
6.15 p.m .: Around 30 soldiers from Mountain Infantry Brigade 23 were on board the accident train. They make an emergency call, help with rescue work and take care of the injured, said the Hochstaufen barracks in Bad Reichenhall on Saturday. Brigadier General Maik Keller praised the soldiers: Although some were slightly injured, they helped immediately.
4:18 p.m .: In Garmisch-Partenkirchen, attempts are currently being made to lift the second unsupported wagon from the tracks. This is reported by the “BR”. The salvage was difficult, the wagons were severely deformed by the accident, it is said. Another crane is needed, it is still unclear whether this will arrive today or tomorrow.
1:47 p.m .: After the train accident, a fifth victim was found, as the police confirmed. After rescuers were able to lift one of the wagons early Saturday afternoon, the person was found in the rubble. According to information from “Bild” it should be about the missing student. However, this has not yet been confirmed. The responsible chief of police said that he could make “no further statements” about the fifth fatality.
The Chief of Police further said: “The number of injured has increased to 44, some seriously. We do not assume that there will be any further fatalities. We currently estimate between seven and 14 missing persons, but suspect that the number will continue to decrease over time.”
Bahn boss Richard Lutz promised to look at the accidents and draw consequences for the future. “We want the causes to be clarified quickly and clearly.” Transport Minister Volker Wissing also promised “complete clarification. But you can only draw conclusions at the end when all the causes are known.”
1:04 p.m .: A wagon part at the scene of the accident in Farchant could be lifted. This is reported by “BR24” from the scene of the accident. Now it should be checked whether there are missing persons among them. For this reason, the statements by Transport Minister Volker Wissing and Bahn boss Richard Lutz have been delayed.
Reports that a technical defect is responsible for the train accident have not yet been confirmed by the police. A special commission should now clarify what was the cause of the derailment of the train.
12:54 p.m .: The district administrator of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district reported something to the missing people to “Bild”. “Among the missing is a child or young person between the ages of 10 and 15,” says Anton Speer. “We have to lift the wagons as quickly as possible and see what’s underneath.
11:58 a.m .: According to the Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU), adults and no children died in the serious train accident near Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The fatalities are “adult women,” Hermann said on Saturday on Bayerischer Rundfunk. “About seven people” are still missing.
Hermann said it cannot be ruled out that there are still dead people under the overturned wagons. “The wagon, which is completely scrapped, has to be lifted onto the adjacent federal road, but so far this has not been possible.”
The Minister of the Interior expects the railway line to be closed “in any case for a few more days”. Even after the wreck has been removed, the investigative work would first have to be completed, he said in BR. Then major construction work would be necessary because the overhead line of the route was also destroyed.
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