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Ten people injured in train collision in western Germany

18 August 2010 01:34 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A passenger train bound for France collided with a garbage truck in western Germany Tuesday, leaving 10 people injured and two carriages derailed, police said, APA reports quoting news.xinhuanet.com website.

The InterCityExpress (ICE) high-speed train from Frankfurt to Paris hit the garbage truck, which had blocked the tracks after sliding down a wet slope, at around 1015 GMT near Lambrecht, 140 km southwest of Frankfurt, federal police spokesman Reza Ahmari said.

One passenger was seriously injured and the other nine were slightly hurt, the spokesman said.

The seriously injured passenger was transferred to hospital by helicopter, while the truck driver was lucky to get out of his vehicle in time and suffered only minor injuries, he said.

The collision could have been worse had the train driver not used the emergency brakes to slow down the train, Ahmari said.

There were 320 passengers on board. The unhurt passengers were taken by bus to Mannheim from where they continued their journey on a replacement train, spokesman for rail operator Deutsche Bahn said.

The line between Lambrecht and the next town, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, was closed. Other Frankfurt-Paris ICE trains were rerouted through Strasbourg, while regional trains between Neustadt and Lambrecht were replaced by buses and taxis, police said.