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Photo: Boris Roessler / DPA
A 14-year-old climbed onto a freight wagon in Troisdorf, North Rhine-Westphalia - and suffered a fatal electric shock.
The youth touched an overhead line in the train station on Sunday afternoon, a police spokesman said on Monday.
A twelve-year-old boy was also there and alerted the emergency services.
He went into shock.
According to the police on Monday, it was still unclear why the 14-year-old climbed onto the wagon.
"We can only speculate whether it was a test of courage," said the police spokesman.
Danger already on approach
The Federal Police repeatedly point out that electric shocks can also occur if you do not touch the overhead line.
Even when approaching the overhead line, which is under 15,000 volts, a fatal voltage flashover could occur.
You can read a detailed account of the problems faced by young train climbers here: A lightning bolt, a bang - then silence
wit / dpa