The train will appear on Wednesday in the morning many travellers as the safest form of transport on your way in the direction of Copenhagen. Because to this date, a violent storm for a few hours and Denmark. The ferry traffic is restricted, and the two major bridges in the country are blocked for car traffic. However, the rail service on the bridge over the Great Belt (Storebælt) is running normally. Until about 7.30 PM.
Then something brings six people to the death happens: The train makes a full stop, and Luggage flies through the carriages, passengers will be thrown to the ground. “Suddenly, the train began to wobble,” says an eye-witness, Simon Voldsgaard Tøndering of the newspaper “policies”. “I looked out of the window and sparks are seen on the sides of the train beat. Glass shards on we flew, the ceiling panels came loose. And then everything was black.“
Something hit the train. First, it is unclear what it was. The train even more, until he comes in the middle of the bridge, with 131 passengers and three crew members on Board.
The average Commission suspected later that the charge of an oncoming freight train that might have caused unhappiness. The train of the Deutsche Bahn subsidiary DB Cargo transported empties to the brewery Carlsberg. The wagons were loaded with crates of beer and had a partial Plan instead of solid walls.
“On one of the freight cars was an empty truck trailers, fell down,” says Bo Haaning of the emergency Commission, the Danish radio. “Either he has taken the train, or the train is in danger.” He could not tell whether the trailer has caused the accident itself or whether the train was also hit by other objects. A reappraisal of the cause of the disaster is likely to take weeks, possibly even months.
The balance sheet: Six Dead, 16 people injured. If foreigners are among the Victims, can’t tell a police spokeswoman said the German press Agency on Wednesday. The news Agency Ritzau reported, it was the most serious rail accident in Denmark since 1988. At the time, arrived in Sorø eight people have been killed and 72 had been injured.
The storm “Zeetje” over North Germany.
lost Denmark’s Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen responded affected on the misfortune on the Great Belt: “ordinary Danes, on the way to work or on the journey home from the Christmas holidays, your life. It is deeply unhappy.“ EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker addresses the families and friends of the victims his condolences.
The consequences of the accident for traffic on Wednesday enormously. The 18-Kilometer-long bridge connects the Danish Islands of Funen (Fyn) and Zealand (Sjælland) and is one of the most important transport routes in Denmark, Zealand and Copenhagen. The train traffic is interrupted for the Rest of the day. For the car traffic, the bridge will be released at noon.