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Train crash kills 1, injures 10, in the Netherlands

February 23, 2016

The town's mayor says the accident could have been worse. The early-morning commuter train was only lightly occupied, whereas the afternoon train is often packed.

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A train lies on its side, sprawled across the track amid scattered debris while emergency workers survey the scene.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/Ginopress B.V.

Train crash in the Netherlands

A train crash in the Netherlands has left one person dead and 10 injured.

A local commuter train, with only about 15 passengers on board, crashed into a crane near the town of Dalfsen, about 70 miles east of Amsterdam.

The accident, which occurred shortly before 9 a.m., left several carriages lying on their sides as emergency crews searched the scene, looking for more passengers.

"According to initial reports one person has been killed," mayor Han Noten told public broadcaster NOS, adding it could have been worse. "There were not too many people on the train. The evening train is usually full, but not in the mornings."

The crane was on caterpillar tracks and was moving very slowly as it crossed the railway line when the train plowed into it.

The train was operated by Arriva, a subsidiary of Germany's Deutsche Bahn. An official there said the deceased is likely the train driver.

An investigation into the cause of the accident is underway.

Emergency workers mill about the site of a train crash were a carriage lies on its side in a field, with its end ripped open.
Emergency services search the derailed train for passengersImage: picture alliance/dpa/V. Jannink

bik/jil (AFP, AP, dpa)