ISREAL: Israeli train derails, at least one dead

Record ID: 398058

  • Title: ISREAL: Israeli train derails, at least one dead
  • Date: 12th June 2006
  • Summary: WIDE OF TRAIN TRACK POLICE AT SITE
  • Embargoed: 27th June 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVA64VAXW0BTTEJP8DTYBJSQ7OVV
  • Story Text: An Israeli commuter train carrying about 200 passengers slammed into a van and derailed on Monday (June 12) in an accident that killed at least one person and injured dozens, rescue services said.
    The impact threw the locomotive on top of one carriage. Three others lay on their sides in a mass of twisted metal.
    Medics carried out passengers on stretchers outside a farming village near the coastal city of Netanya in central Israel, but an ambulance services spokesman said between three and five people were trapped.
    "Altogether there were four carriages that in fact derailed after the initial impact that took place near the tracks. This was as a result of a vehicle that was stuck on the lines. At the moment we are dealing with five people who are in fact trapped inside. All the emergency services are dealing with them. All the hospitals in the area have been open and we are dealing with a number of injured. At the moment we have one person who was injured and who is in critical condition, two with moderate injuries and another 15 have been taken to different hospitals around for further medical attention," police spokesman Miki Rosenfeld told Reuters Television.
    "I was in the last carriage and we left Tel Aviv in a journey of almost 10 minutes I suddenly felt that the train jolted violently and then stopped. I got off the train and then I understood that there was something - an accident - and I got off the train - me and all the people who were in the carriage and I was surprised to see a thing like this. It was a very serious accident and there were many injured who were evacuated. We helped as much as we could," said one unidentified eyewitness.
    A Reuters reporter at the scene said the vehicle was a relatively lightweight Isuzu van.
    Ambulances and medical evacuation helicopters rushed to the scene. Rescuers clambered over carriages and dazed passengers walked along the tracks, while others used cellular telephones to call loved ones.
    Rescue services, updating casualty figures, said at least one person was killed and about 45 were injured. Earlier accounts said several people were dead and about 150 hurt.
    Israel's Channel 10 television said the Isuzu van had stopped at the crossing, obeying a flashing red light, but was pushed onto the tracks by another vehicle that slammed into it.
    In June 2005, seven people were killed and more than 150 injured when a passenger train hit a truck south of Tel Aviv.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register