The parents had already reported the boy missing (symbolic photo) © Reichwein/imago
Family reports three-year-old boy missing. A few hours later, the boy is hit by a train and killed. The police are investigating.
Bremen – On the morning of May 25, 2023, a three-year-old boy was hit and fatally injured by a northwest railway on the open track. This happened near Bremen-Gröpelingen, in the area of an allotment garden between the stops HB-Oslebshausen and HB-Walle on Pappelweg.
Investigations show: Child suddenly stepped onto the tracks
Initial investigations by the Bremen police and the Bremen Federal Police Inspectorate showed that the boy suddenly stepped off a gravel road onto the tracks. The boy's family had previously reported him missing in the morning.
The Nordwestbahn, which was on its way from Bremen-Vegesack to Bremen Hauptbahnhof, was travelling at a speed of about 120 km/h at the time of the accident. The train driver noticed the child only a few meters before the train and immediately initiated emergency braking. Nevertheless, he could not prevent the tragic accident, as the train required a stopping distance of about 300 meters.
Unanswered questions: Why was the boy traveling alone?
Questions remain unanswered as to why the boy got from a residential area to the tracks of the allotment garden alone. The boy's parents' house is only a few hundred meters from the scene of the accident. These questions form the focus of further investigations by the Bremen police.
At the time of the accident, there were about 100 passengers on the Northwest Railway. It was not possible to get off on the open track because of the high railway embankment, so passengers had to stay on the train. This continued at 10:00 a.m. to Bremen Central Station. The railway line was reopened at 11:11 a.m.
