1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
India electionsIranIsrael-Hamas war

Passengers injured in Swiss train collision

February 20, 2015

Two passenger trains have collided causing injuries and disrupting commuter routes into Zurich. The collision has occurred at the train station Rafz, north of the Swiss financial capital.

https://p.dw.com/p/1Eeux
Schweiz Zungunglück bei Rafz
Image: AFP/Getty Images/M. Buholzer

"There was an accident this morning, it's serious, there are injured," police spokeswoman Cornelia Schuoler said without providing any other details. The incident occurred at 6:45 a.m. local time, she added.

Police said five people had been injured. Earlier reports said as many as 49 had been hurt in the crash.

An 18-year-old passenger on the commuter train told the paper that it had just begun pulling out of the station in Rafz, a town some 20 miles (35 kilometers) from Zurich, on its way to Schaffhausen when the conductor hit the breaks.

"An express train from Zurich came up from behind and hit the side of our train. The intercity train derailed," said the man.

Some photographs from the scene of an accident showing train cars being knocked off the tracks can already be seen on social media.

The locomotive on one of the trains was smashed in, and several of its carriages derailed and tipped on their sides.

Ambulances rushed to the scene and service on the rail line between the towns of Bulach and Schaffhausen was suspended.

The Swiss are Europe's top rail users, and their network is normally envied abroad for safety, quality, and punctuality.

jil/es (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)