Two commuter trains collided in Denmark early Thursday, leaving 17 people injured, including five critically, in what police described as a major incident.
The crash occurred at around 6.30 am near a level crossing in a rural wooded area close to Hillerød, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Copenhagen. A total of 38 people were aboard the two trains, according to police.
Emergency services said at least 17 people were injured, including five who were in critical condition at the scene. Officials had initially reported four critically injured, but later revised the figure to five. It was not immediately clear whether the train drivers were among those hurt.
Visuals from the scene showed the yellow and grey locomotives smashed and buckled, with shattered glass from windshields and windows, though both trains and their carriages remained upright on the tracks.
A large number of ambulances and police personnel were dispatched, and all passengers were evacuated. Some of the injured were airlifted to hospitals, according to Gribskov mayor Trine Egetved, who said she was “deeply upset and shocked” by the incident. The rail line is widely used by local residents, workers and schoolchildren.
Emergency crews concluded rescue operations about three hours after the crash, while investigators continued to examine the scene. Police said they were still gathering information and could not immediately determine the cause of the collision.
"We can't provide any details for now about the cause," police official Morten Kaare Pedersen told reporters.
"We are in the process of gathering the necessary information about the course of events. So there are, and will continue to be for quite some time, a lot of investigations underway."
Chief physician Anders Damm-Hejmdal of Copenhagen’s emergency medical responders noted that the number of critically injured could change, adding that such collisions can lead to varied injuries as “people get thrown around”.
Denmark has a strong rail safety record, though past incidents include a 2019 train crash that killed eight people and injured 16, and another accident last year in which an express train struck a farm truck, killing one person and injuring 27.
(With inputs from AP, AFP)