At least one person has died and 30 have been injured when a train derailed with about 50 passengers in the town of Voorschoten, about eight kilometers north of The Hague, in the west of the Netherlands. The accident occurred in the early hours of this Tuesday, when the train collided with a crane that was on the tracks. Another freight convoy also collided with this crane, but the investigation has yet to determine how those crashes occurred. Maintenance work had been carried out at that point the night before, and two of the four available tracks were out of use. Trains could circulate through the other two. Two of the injured are in serious condition and 19 have been hospitalized. The deceased was a worker from the BAM company, in charge of the work on that section of the route.
The collision of the passenger transport took place around 3:30 a.m. (Spanish peninsular time), according to the emergency services. The night train was traveling from the city of Leiden to The Hague and the first carriage plunged into a field after the accident. The second wagon was left leaning over the track, while the fourth caught fire. The driver has been admitted with several broken bones. His colleague from the freight train has not been injured and is under observation. Passengers were being evacuated for an hour, since before it was necessary to remove the catenary, the aerial power supply cables of the railway.
A convoy of 24 ambulances, coming from all over the region, was sent to the incident and the Dutch Safety Board is already analyzing what happened. Its experts must clarify what that crane was doing next to the tracks and if the safety regulations were complied with. The Prosecutor’s Office and the Police have also opened an investigation. For her part, Nadine Stemerdink, mayoress of Voorschoten, a town with 25,000 inhabitants, has announced the opening of a reception center for residents and eyewitnesses. “We heard a very loud noise and suddenly the lights went out,” a witness told local television Omroep West. “At first, we couldn’t get off the train because there was no electricity,” she added. “Finally, we were able to after what seemed like hours.”
In Voorschoten, the neighbors have been awakened at dawn by the noise of an explosion and with tremors in the houses closest to the railway station. Soon, they have been able to hear the screams of the travelers. Wouter Koolmees, director of Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS, the Netherlands railway company) has assured that an investigation will be opened: “I do nothing but ask myself questions; I want to know exactly what happened ”, he said.
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The Dutch Railways (NS) have reported that traffic between Leiden and The Hague has been suspended due to the accident and will not resume until at least 4:00 p.m. this Tuesday. The central station of Leiden, a university city of 125,000 inhabitants, has been closed to the public. They have also pleaded with travelers to find alternative transportation because the buses are full.
John Voppen, director of ProRail, the company responsible for the renewal, expansion and security of the Dutch railway network, has described what happened as a “black day”. The worst rail accident in the Netherlands dates back to 1962 and was due to human error. Then the driver missed a signal because of the fog and two passenger trains ended up colliding in Harmelen, near Utrecht. There were 93 dead and 52 wounded. From then on, an automatic braking system was introduced when the signal is red, according to the Railway Museum.
The kings, Guillermo and Máxima, have sent a message of encouragement to those affected through their Twitter account: “We think of the victims and their families. Many people are now mired in fear and uncertainty.” Also the Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, who has wished “the best for the victims and their relatives.”
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