One dead and at least thirty injured in serious train accident in Voorschoten

One person died and at least thirty people were injured in a train accident in Voorschoten in the night from Monday to Tuesday. That reports the security region Hollands Midden. Several dozen victims treated on site. Between ten and twenty people were taken to hospital after the train accident. The CEO of ProRail speaks of a “black day for the Dutch railway”.

According to an NS spokesman, there were about fifty passengers on the train. An emergency hospital has been opened in Utrecht for the victims of the accident, ANP news agency reports.

The accident happened around 3:30 am. According to ProRail, a crane was involved in the accident, but it is still unclear what the role of this crane is in the cause. The Hollands Midden Safety Region initially reported that a collision with a freight train was the cause of the accident, but later stated that the accident may have been caused by construction equipment on the track. According to the NS, a freight train was involved in the accident.

As a result of the accident, the front part of the NS train derailed and ended up in a meadow. The middle section has come off the track and a fire has broken out in the rear section of the train. According to a photographer on site, ANP reports, the fire has now been extinguished.

Investigators from the Dutch Safety Board are on their way to the scene of the accident, the organization reports Twitter. Due to the accident, no trains run between Leiden and The Hague.