Current Affairs Seven dead, more than sixty injured in Eurocity train crash in Moravia
Seven people have died and more than sixty are reported injured in a train crash in the eastern part of the Czech Republic. The accident happened at approximately 10:30 am on Friday, some 20 km south of the city of Ostrava, when a Prague-bound Eurocity train from Krakow, in Poland, hit fallen debris from an overhead bridge which had collapsed onto the railway tracks.
Photo: CTK
A fatal 10-minute delay of the Eurocity train EC 108 Comenius from Krakow
to Prague was the indirect cause of one of the worst train accidents in
the
country’s recent history. As the express train approached a section of
the railway line near the town of Studénka, in northern Moravia, the
train
driver saw parts of an overhead bridge sway and collapse before his eyes.
At the time he could only pull the brake and lower the train’s speed
from
140 km per hour to 120. Even so the train crashed into the debris with
immense force. The locomotive and six carriages were derailed, trapping
passengers in the wreckage. Seven passengers were killed. More than 60
were injured, among them a number
of
Poles and two Frenchmen.
Photo: CTK
Rescue teams from the whole of the North of Moravia immediately set out
for the scene, including 19 fire fighters units and hundreds of other
rescuers. The police closed roads in the area to allow what has been
described as a “continuous line of ambulance vans” to get the injured
passengers to hospitals in the region. Several helicopters were used to
transport the wounded to hospitals in Ostrava and Olomouc. The hospital in
Ostrava announced a temporary blood shortage appealing to the public to
donate more blood for the victims.
The region’s governor Evžen Tošenovský was the first official to arrive at the scene. He told reporters that he had only ever seen a disaster of such proportions in movies. Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek, together with Deputy PM Jiří Čunek, a native of the region, and Transportation Minister Aleš Hřebíček also headed for the site of the accident as did two Polish officials Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Health Minister Ewa Kopaczowa.
Photo: CTK
The bridge which collapsed was undergoing reconstruction that began in
April this year, and had reportedly been in a very poor state. The cause
of
the collapse is not clear and will be subject to thorough investigation by
the authorities.
The crash happened on one of the busiest Czech railway lines connecting the country to Poland and Slovakia; train services in the area are expected to face severe delays lasting well into the weekend.
Two emergency phone lines have been set up for the victims’ families: (+420) 974 723 202 and (+420) 974 723 201.
