A regional passenger train heading to the city of Munich from the Bavarian ski resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen ran off the rails around midday on Friday. At least four people were killed in the accident and around 30 sustained injuries, the local police said.
Three carriages at the rear of the train jumped the track and overturned, the local media reported, citing the police. Videos published by the media show one of the carriages lying on its roof and another one lying on a mountain slope near the rails.
“People have had to be pulled through windows,” a federal police spokesman told journalists. Police officers as well as emergency medical services, several rescue helicopters – from the neighboring Austria and even the German military – have been deployed to the scene to mitigate the consequences of the train crash, German media outlets have reported.
A total of 60 passengers have been affected by the incident. Around 30 people have been injured and 14 of them are in serious condition, the local authorities said. Three people died at the scene and one person succumbed to their injuries on the way to the hospital.
The incident took place at the very beginning of the summer holidays in Germany and the authorities fear there were many pupils and students that were returning home for the summer on the train. It is unclear how many students are among those injured and if any of them were killed in the incident. A federal police spokesman has only confirmed that “people of all ages,” including children, have sustained injuries from the crash.