Officials in the Czech Republic say three people are dead and at least 40 are injured after a high-speed express train traveling from Munich, Germany collided with a commuter train near the western village of Milavce early Wednesday.
Police say the dead include both drivers of the trains and a passenger. Fire and rescue officials say at least four people were seriously injured and flown from the scene by helicopter to area hospitals. They say most of the injuries were minor.
From his Twitter account, Czech Transportation Minister Karel Havlicek said the Ex 351 train - the express train from Munich to Prague - had passed through a stop signal and collided with a passenger train providing regional service between the Czech towns of Plzen and Domazlice, about 140 kilometers southwest of Prague.
Photographs of the scene show extensive damage to the fast train's locomotive and the front part of the local train. Both trains remained upright on or near the tracks
Czech Prime Minister Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis expressed his condolences to the families of those killed in the accident and called for an investigation.
Czech police said from their Twitter account that because the accident involved a train from Germany, officers from the Czech Department of International Relations were at the scene, along with regional police.
