Feb. 9, 2016: Rescue personnel stand in front of two trains that collided head-on near Bad Aibling, southern Germany. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
DEVELOPING: Two commuter trains collided head-on in southern Germany on Tuesday leaving at least eight people dead and 150 others injured. The trains crashed on a single track shortly before 7 a.m. (1 a.m. EST) outside of Bad Aibling, a spa town located approximately 35 miles southeast of Munich.
Rescue efforts have been complicated because the area is a densely wooded and hilly region near the river Mangfall. Police spokesman Stefan Sonntag said that 50 of the injured were severely hurt, while federal police spokesman Stefan Brandl said the numbers of dead and injured would change, calling the latest casualty figures as “a snapshot.”
“This is the biggest accident we have had in years in this region and we have many emergency doctors, ambulances and helicopters on the scene,” said Sonntag, who added that some people were still stuck inside the wreckage of the train and rescue personnel were trying to free them.
