A 16-year-old climbed onto a freight train in Bruchsal in Baden-Württemberg and was mortally wounded by an electric shock from the overhead line. According to the police in Karlsruhe, the teenager had climbed on a freight train at a stop on Wednesday evening together with a friend.
While the friend jumped, the 16-year-old climbed further on the roof of a car and came there in the area of the overhead line. Presumably, the electricity jumped through a so-called arc. According to the police, the teenager caught fire and fell onto the platform, where he was extinguished by other young people.
Despite a quick first aid by a doctor living near the bus stop, the adolescent suffered serious injuries. "About 50 percent of the skin surface is burned," said a police spokesman. There is "acute danger to life".
A rescue helicopter flew the injured person after police immediately to a special clinic in Ludwigshafen. The railway line between Bruchsal and Bretten was temporarily closed, later it was released by the investigating federal police again.
The Federal Police repeatedly points out that electric shocks can occur, even if you do not touch a catenary. As soon as you come closer than 1.50 meters to the line, there may be an electric shock. In August, a woman in Munich had been electrocuted after she had risen to a tank wagon to take photographs.