Collision on the track

4 dead, 23 injured in train accident in the Czech Republic

A fully occupied passenger train has collided with a freight train in Pardubice in the Czech Republic. The accident on Thursday night left four people dead and 23 injured, some of them seriously.

Numerous rescue workers such as firefighters, paramedics and doctors as well as two rescue helicopters rushed to the scene of the accident, which is around 120 kilometers east of Prague. The locomotives of both trains collided head-on there for reasons that are still unclear.

300 passengers on board
The night-time express train operated by the private rail company Regiojet was on its way from Prague to Kosice in Slovakia and had only been traveling for an hour when the accident occurred. According to the fire department, there were more than 300 passengers on board. The uninjured passengers were taken to emergency accommodation in buses.

I felt a crash and heard glass shattering - immediately afterwards I heard crying.

Ein Fahrgast

Stop signal overlooked or points set incorrectly
According to media reports, the driver of the express train may have overlooked a stop signal or a point was set incorrectly. "I was still thinking that the train was going onto the wrong track, even though a green signal was lit," an eyewitness told the newspaper "Pravo".

"Suddenly there was a bang and the train stopped." A passenger on the train, who was uninjured, reported afterwards: "I felt a crash and heard glass shattering - immediately afterwards I heard crying."

The collision between the two trains could still be heard some distance away. "The collision woke us up, my wife thought a house had collapsed in the neighborhood," said one resident.

"Great misfortune"
In addition to Interior Minister Rakusan, Transport Minister Martin Kupka also immediately went to the scene of the accident. Prime Minister Petr Fiala expressed his condolences to the relatives of the deceased via the online platform X. "The collision of the two trains in Pardubice is a great misfortune," he wrote. "We are all thinking of the victims and the injured."