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German train derailment ’caused by landslide’

Police said the downpours in the area caused a sewage shaft to overflow.

By contributor Stefanie Dazio, Associated Press
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Supporting image for story: German train derailment ’caused by landslide’
A carriage of the derailed regional passenger train (Nico Pointner/dpa via AP)

Investigators believe a landslide brought on by heavy rainfall is likely to have caused a regional train to derail in southern Germany, killing three people and injuring 41 more.

More than 100 people were aboard the Deutsche Bahn train when at least two carriages derailed on Sunday evening in a forested area near Riedlingen, about 98 miles west of Munich.

Emergency services work on the tracks by a landslide after a regional passenger train derailed near Riedlingen, Germany
Emergency services work on the tracks by a landslide after a regional passenger train derailed near Riedlingen, Germany (Nico Pointner/dpa via AP)

The train’s 32-year-old driver, a 36-year-old apprentice and a 70-year-old passenger were killed, police said on Monday.

Some of the 41 injured were seriously hurt.

Police said the downpours in the area caused a sewage shaft to overflow, likely triggering the landslide of an embankment where the derailment occurred.

Carriages of a derailed regional passenger train lie on a railway line near Riedlingen, Germany
Carriages of a derailed regional passenger train lie on a railway line near Riedlingen, Germany (Dpa via AP)

There was no evidence of an external influence that could have caused the derailment, police said.

Photos from the scene showed parts of the train on its side as rescuers climbed atop the carriages.

Germany Train Derailed
Rescue workers search for passengers (Thomas Warnack/dpa via AP)

“Such pictures shake us to the core,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said on Monday, offering his condolences to the victims’ families.

He pledged full support for the effort to clear up the cause.