Head-On Train Crash Injures Dozens In Austria [Video]

A head-on train crash injured dozens of people this morning in the Austrian capital Vienna.

According to the AFP, five people were seriously injured in the crash and two are considered to be in life-threatening condition.

Emergency services spokesman Ronald Packert said:

“Two of the seriously injured are in a life-threatening condition, one of whom is one of the train drivers… In total 41 people were hurt.”

Packert said that two commuter trains packed with people crashed during morning rush hour in Vienna. Packert said that he was thankful that the head-on train crash occurred near an emergency station.

Packert said:

“One good thing was that the crash happened right next to an emergency services station, meaning that our people were there in seconds.”

Packert may be thankful that his team was on the scene within seconds but it still took nearly two hours to evacuate all of the passengers.

Austrian Railways spokeswoman Sarah Nettel told Channel News Asia that the head-on train crash occurred because of a technical error. One of the trains was given a signal to proceed when it should have waited for the other train.

Nettel said:

“There was a technical problem. One of the trains received a signal to proceed that it shouldn’t have.”

Nettel said that there would be a further investigation into the crash but that the company is currently concentrating on taking care of the passengers.

Here’s a video about the head-on train crash in Austria.