The two trains that crashed into each other (Picture: Anadolu/Getty)
Two trains crashed in Slovakia,injuring several passengers,after one of them allegedly ran a red light.
Eleven people were taken to hospital,while dozens were lightly injured,according to interior minister Matus Sutaj Estok,who spoke from the crash site.
The accident happened near Pezinok,a town in the Bratislava region,at around 7.30pm on Sunday.
It is understood one of the trains ran a red light and crashed into the back of another.
‘According to preliminary information,there was no head-on collision of trains,nor was there a train derailment,’ police said on Facebook.
Mr Estok said there were around 800 people onboard the trains,many of them students.
A number of hours after the crash,a spokesperson for University Hospital Bratislava said two patients were undergoing surgery and they expect this number to increase,reports The Mirror.
Emergency services at the scene and passengers wrapped in foil blankets (Picture: Anadolu/Getty)
‘This is an extraordinary incident,’ said Ivan Bednarok,head of Slovak railway service ZSR.
‘One of the trains was in a place it shouldn’t have been. I won’t speculate before the investigation is complete,but it clearly ran a red signal,leaving a stop where it shouldn’t have,and the second express train collided with it from behind at an estimated speed of over 100 km/h.’
A passenger told Slovak outlet Aktuality.sk: ‘I was going from Piestany to Bratislava,I use it regularly.
‘After about 15 minutes of travelling,we were all thrown forward when the train stopped. Only a mounted table stopped me from slamming my whole body into the lady sitting across from me.’
@andrej.zavrel V pezinku sa zrazili dva vlaky. Na mieste velké množstvo zranených. Vlak bol plný študentov. #pezinok #vlak #nehoda #policia #krimi
♬ original sound – andy.zaul
According to passenger reports,an emergency call was put out on one of the trains asking any doctors on board to go to the first carriage,where people were in a ‘pretty bad condition’.
Police tested both drivers for drugs and alcohol,but both came back negative.
Posting on Facebook,Prime Minister Robert Fico urged people to focus on the injured and avoid spreading speculation or hatred.
The incident is the second train crash in Slovakia in the past month.
Two trains collided in eastern Slovakia on October 13,injuring 91 people.