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Markus Söder (CSU) at the scene of the accident: "Stitch in the heart"
Photo: Angelika Warmuth / picture alliance / dpa
After the serious train accident in Upper Bavaria, the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) visited the scene of the accident on Saturday morning.
"We pray and very much hope that we will not find any more dead under the wagons," said Söder.
That is “the most important thing”.
In the train accident on Friday, three wagons fell on their sides.
At least four people were killed and 40 others injured - three of them seriously, according to police on Saturday.
Söder said "people are still missing".
He called on those affected by the accident and their families to contact the police as soon as possible.
A police spokesman said there was a "single-digit number of people whose whereabouts we do not yet know."
According to the Bavarian Minister of the Interior, Joachim Herrmann (CSU), the fatalities known to date are "adult women" and there are no children included.
Hermann said on Bayerischer Rundfunk that it could not be ruled out that there were still dead under the overturned wagons.
»The wagon, which is completely scrapped, has to be lifted onto the adjacent federal road, but so far this has not been possible.«
"Stab in the heart"
Two large cranes are supposed to lift the wagons lying in the ditch.
That was "complicated and dangerous," said the police spokesman.
After the accident, the wagons were "under high voltage" and the aim was not to endanger helpers.
Söder said the accident had "stabbed him in the heart".
Now we have to find out what the cause is.
Söder thanked the emergency services on site for their quick and highly professional help.
More than 500 emergency services were on site on Friday, and a little fewer on Saturday, according to the police spokesman.
A regional train traveling from Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the direction of Munich derailed on Friday afternoon near Burgrain for initially unknown reasons, several wagons fell on the side.
The accident happened on the last day before the Pentecost holidays in Bavaria.
There were also many students on the train.
At noon, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) and Bahn boss Richard Lutz want to visit the scene of the accident.
hey/AFP
