Authorities shed light on possible cause of deadly train derailment in Germany

New details are emerging after a train derailed and killed three passengers in Germany.

A train derailment in a wooded area of southwestern Germany that killed three people on Sunday may have been caused by an overflowing sewer, local police and prosecutors said Monday.

“It is believed that heavy rain in the area of the accident caused a sewage shaft to overflow,” Ulm police and Ravensburg prosecutors said in a joint statement.

“The water triggered a landslide on the embankment next to the tracks, which in turn caused the derailment,” they added.

About 100 passengers were aboard the train when the accident occurred at around 6:10 pm (1610 GMT) near the town of Riedlingen in Baden-Wuerttemberg state.

Severe storms swept through the region at the time of the accident, according to weather services.

Three people died in the accident, police and prosecutors said, including the train’s driver and a member of staff onboard.

At least 41 people were injured, some of them severely, they added.

Traffic is still suspended on the affected railway line and cleanup work will begin tomorrow, the statement said.

The investigation is still ongoing and there is no indication of any foul play or interference with the line, authorities said.

The investigation is still ongoing and there is no indication of any foul play or interference with the line, authorities said. (Photo by Karl-Josef Hildenbrand / AFP)

In a post on social media, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed his condolences to the families of those killed.

He added that he was in close contact with both the interior and transport ministers, and had asked them to “provide the emergency services with all the support they need”.

Footage from the scene of the accident showed yellow-and-grey-coloured train carriages lying on their sides, as firefighters and emergency services tried to get to the passengers.

According to local TV station SWR, helicopters arrived shortly after the accident to transport the injured to hospitals in the area, and emergency doctors from nearby hospitals were alerted.

TOPSHOT - Employees of German rail operator Deutsche Bahn AG inspect the railtracks in front of the derailed train. (Photo by Karl-Josef Hildenbrand / AFP)

German transport is regularly criticised by passengers for its outdated infrastructure, with travellers facing frequent train delays, and various technical problems.

The government has pledged to invest several hundred billion euros over the next few years, in particular to modernise infrastructure.

In June 2022, a train derailed near a Bavarian Alpine resort in southern Germany, killing four people and injuring dozens.

Germany’s deadliest rail accident happened in 1998 when a high-speed train operated by state-owned Deutsche Bahn derailed in Eschede in Lower Saxony, killing 101 people

Originally published as Authorities shed light on possible cause of deadly train derailment in Germany