Arriva train derails after collision with street sweeper car, killing one; Three hurt
At least one person was injured after a train collided with a vehicle at the intersection between the railroad and Spoorstraat in Tienray. The driver of the street sweeper vehicle that was struck by the train died at the scene, the Limburg Security Office announced nearly two hours after the accident happened on Wednesday afternoon. Police told local broadcaster L1 that rescue workers had tried to revive the victim to no avail.
When the incident happened at about 2:41 p.m., there were 34 people on the Arriva train. Three people on the train, including the train's engineer and two passengers, were slightly injured. They were treated by paramedics at the scene.
The incident caused the partial derailment of the Arriva train, where one carriage jumped the tracks, but remained upright. The train was still being evacuated at 4:30 p.m. Those removed from the train were going to be transported to the Horst aan de Maas town hall.
Railroad infrastructure firm ProRail was expected to repair the train car and place it back on the rails later in the afternoon or early evening. ProRail said that the incident was disrupting service between Nijmegen and Venray. Both Arriva and NS said that the accident forced the cancellation of service between Venlo and Venray, but a replacement bus service was running between the two cities with a stop in Blerick.
According to the NS, train service between Venlo and Venray was not likely to be restored until at least 6 p.m. "Train traffic is currently completely at a standstill and will remain so for the next few hours," the Limburg Security Office stated.
The intersection where the accident happened is a level crossing where automatic gates and signal lighting was present. Emergency services records show that dozens of firefighters were sent to the scene, along with ambulances, and a trauma team traveling by helicopter. The response was upgraded about 15 minutes later to a Grip 1 regional emergency, where all responding personnel unified under a single commander.
