Train Hits Bridge in Czech Republic; 6 dead

08/08/2008
By: KAREL JANICEK

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) _ A long-distance passenger train from Poland carrying hundreds of passengers smashed into a collapsed bridge and partially derailed in the Czech Republic on Friday, killing at least six people and seriously injuring 13, officials said. It was the worst train accident in the Czech Republic since 1995, when 19 people died in a train crash, and Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek and his Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk, were both heading for the site of Friday's crash, their offices said. It occurred at about 10:30 a.m. (0830 GMT) near the eastern town of Studenka when parts of a bridge under reconstruction tumbled onto the track as the train was approaching, Czech Railways spokesman Radek Joklik said. The driver of the Prague-bound train — which was traveling at 85 mph (135 kph) — slammed on the emergency brakes but was unable to avoid crashing into the debris, said Jan Kucera, Czech Railways' inspection deputy chief. The engine and the first four of the train's 10 carriages derailed, he said. Five women and one man were killed. Thirteen people were seriously injured and dozens more suffered minor injuries, said Lukas Humpl, spokesman for the local rescue service. Rescue crews were scrambling to help victims at the scene. The fatalities included five Czechs and one Polish national, Kucera said. The driver of the train survived, according to rail officials. The InterCity train was traveling from the Polish city of Krakow, with an estimated 500 people aboard, Joklik said. Studenka is about 210 miles (340 kilometers) east of Prague. Police spokeswoman Miroslava Michalkova Salkova said the hospitalized victims included two French nationals. Andrzej Jasionowski, head of the consular department at the Foreign Ministry, said nine Poles were injured, two of them seriously. ____ Associated Press Writer Monika Scislowska contributed to the report from Warsaw, Poland. Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.