News / EU

Austria train collision kills one, injures 10

Wednesday, 06 May 2015 5:04 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 06 May 2015 5:04 PM ]

This picture taken on May 6, 2015 shows two local trains that collided head-on near the southern Austrian city of Graz. © AFP

A head-on collision between two local trains in southern Austria has left one person dead and ten others seriously injured.

According to reports, the accident happened near the train station of the village of Waldstein, located some 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the southern Austrian city of Graz at around 10:20 a.m. local time (08:20 GMT) on Wednesday.

Helmut Wittmann, chairman of local train operator, Steiermärkische Landesbahnen, said the crash apparently occurred after one of the two trains failed to observe a stop signal, resulting in the death of one of the train drivers.

"Today we lost one of our colleagues," the Austria Press Agency (APA) quoted Wittmann as saying.

Ten people were seriously injured in Wednesday's accident, a fire brigade spokesman, whose name was not mentioned in reports, told AFP, adding, "The damage is considerable so we think the trains were travelling at average speed for this stretch of track. We assume though that the brakes were applied.”

Austrian Motorist and Touring Club (ÖAMTC) and rescue service also noted that the other train driver and a woman, who was in critical condition, had been airlifted to hospital.

Meanwhile, the Kleine Zeitung newspaper reported that one of the trains may have left the station without waiting for the other coming in the opposite direction to pass.

In January 2013, dozens of people were wounded in a head-on collision between two commuter trains in the Austrian capital city of Vienna.

SSM/HMV/SS

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk