A terrible picture emerged for the emergency services: a train hit a car - three people died. Almost all questions are still open to the investigators.
Hamminkeln (dpa) - In an accident at an unrestricted level crossing on the Lower Rhine, three occupants of a car died. The fire department said Hamminkeln. The car was hit by a train in the village of Dingden on Friday and dragged along.
According to the fire brigade, three of the 19 train passengers were slightly injured. The three dead were all from the city of Voerde, the police said - it is the 81-year-old driver of the car, a 75-year-old and a 77-year-old.
The cause of the accident was initially unclear. According to the police, an expert should help with the investigation.
Two people were apparently dead when the emergency services arrived, it was said. An emergency doctor still tried to save the third person in the car - but to no avail, as the head of the Hamminkeln fire department, Michael Wolbring, said. He could not give any details about the age of the dead. "They were older people," he said. The accident car was reported in the Wesel district.
After the collision outside the village of Dingden, which belongs to the city of Hamminkeln, the car was dragged by the train about 50 meters. In the end, the heavily demolished wreck lay on the rails in front of the locomotive - in the front with the airbag deployed. The emergency services were deployed with protective masks due to the corona pandemic. The firefighters detached the limousine roof to get to the occupants, as Wolbring said.
According to the fire department, the level crossing is outside the town center. The transition was secured with several St. Andrew's crosses, reported a dpa reporter.