Two trains collide in Munich, Germany, with dozens injured

Two trains collided in Germany, injuring dozens of passengers and leaving at least one person dead, according to an initial report from BNO News.

Ninety-five people were aboard the trains, 80 of which were analyzed for signs of shock in the wake of the dramatic collision, which happened at roughly 4:35 PM local time (10:35 AM EST). The vehicles were S-Bahn trains raveling on a single-track railway car, close to Schäftlarn train station, in the southern district of Munich.

Update - Eighteen of the injured were taken to the hospital, five of whom had sustained life-threatening injuries. Another 25 were treated in outpatient programs. The person who died was later identified as an Afghan citizen, 25 years of age.

Passengers could still be escaping the trainwreck

"There are numerous emergency services at the scene, people are injured, and the route is currently completely closed," said Munich police in an initial statement, according to the BNO News report. Andreas Franken, a spokesperson for the local police, confirmed the first fatality, adding that 14 other people had sustained injuries, some of them potentially deadly.

The collision happened shortly after one of the trains had just departed the station, according to a 19-year-old who survived the impact, according to the report. He added that every passenger was thrown from their seats. Emergency services were immediately dispatched to the scene, and the fatality, a male passenger, has yet to be identified. We also don't yet know whether the trainwreck is still on fire, and there is yet to be confirmation that all passengers have been safely evacuated.

While the immediate cause of the collision is obviously two trains traveling too close on the same track, the reason they were placed in such dangerous proximity has yet to be revealed. One of the trains derailed upon collision, with one of its compartments beginning to emit smoke while passengers clambered to find a way off the train, according to another report from the Russian state-funded news service RT. Local eyewitnesses claimed one of the trains had achieved a full stop before the collision, according to the local newspaper Merkur, while another escaped passenger (who was in the back of the train car) said they'd heard a tremendous "bang" upon impact.

?? Two S-Bahn S7 trains collided head on at 1635 near Schäftlarn, Munich on a single track.
A person died 14 were injured, 95 travellers were present on trains.
Following the impact, a train left the tracks but remained standing. https://t.co/BeBp8OXJ3o pic.twitter.com/q8WIOTAVVF

— Chris Ogilvie (@Ogilvie_CJ) February 14, 2022

A logistics error of S-Bahn traffic control might be behind the impact

The two trains were heading for central Munich and Wolfratshausen, respectively, and the drivers' cabs were stuck together as of writing, according to the Merkur report. One expert said of the impact: "It's crazy that six years after Bad Aibling (a town in Germany), the railways don't have their single-track lines under control," according to a (very) rough translation — which suggests that the traffic control and logistics behind the S-Bahn might be the reason both trains were so close on the same track.

Subsiding danger - The section of the S-Bahn train railway called S7 was subsequently closed until further notice, according to the Merkur report, with local shuttle services featuring large taxis ferrying would-be S-Bahn passengers to their destination until the situation is resolved. While it may be some hours before the final cause of the collision is revealed, the remaining passengers were being evacuated as of writing, with no apparent smoke or fire threatening additional lives.

This was a breaking story and was regularly updated as new information became available.