Serious train accident in Hungary; one dead several injured – PHOTOS

Photo: MTI/Balázs Attila

During the afternoon on the 20th of April, a huge train accident happened in Eastern Hungary. One person died, several have been injured, and the property damage is also quite severe.

According to the National Directorate General for Disaster Management’s information about the accident, a tractor has collided with a passenger train and with another train shortly after the first impact at a railway crossing, says HelloMagyar.

In the accident, the engine and two carriages of one of the trains have been completed, and the third carriage was partially derailed, while only the engine of the second train was damaged, said Mávinform.

According to Pál Győrfi, the spokesman for the National Ambulance Service, 13 ambulance units, a mass accident unit, and two helicopters have been sent to the scene, but the accident was not as serious as they have first thought; there were approximately 20 passengers on the two trains that have collided with the tractor.

It seems that only five of them had been injured and only lightly, but unfortunately, the driver of the tractor had suffered severe injuries and has died at the scene.

: Photo: MTI/Balázs Attila

: Source: Police.hu

: Photo: MTI/Balázs Attila

: Source: Police.hu

According to Mávinform, the railway crossing had crossing lights that functioned properly and have shown a red light towards the road, so it is currently unknown why the driver of the agricultural vehicle has decided to cross the railways. The two trains involved were the Debrecen—Záhony and the Záhony—Püspökladány trains. It was the latter which was derailed, and several of its passengers and the train driver have been injured.

While the investigation continues and the technical rescue is taking place,

MÁV has established 11 replacement buses on the mainline between Debrecen and Nyíregyháza. This, in turn, might make the expected travel time longer by 1-1.5 hours for following passengers.

Unfortunately, due to the damages and the derailing of the carriages, the proper railway traffic seems to be suspended for the following few days, said MÁVinform.

According to the latest information in MÁVinform’s Facebook post, the investigation of the scene was thoroughly conducted by night on the same day as the accident. All injured passengers have been let home by the hospital.