04 April 2023 , 06:16
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One person has died and around 30 are seriously injured after a train partially derailed in the early hours of this morning.
The train partially derailed, sending at least one carriage into a field next to the tracks close to the village of Voorschoten near The Hague in the Netherlands at around 3.25am local time (2.25am BST).
Television images showed one of the people using makeshift bridges to cross a canal running alongside the rails to reach the stricken train in the darkness.
Many windows in the train carriages were broken. It was not clear if that happened during the accident or as passengers attempted to escape.
A fire department spokesman told Dutch radio that 19 people were taken to hospital, while others were being treated at the scene.
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Emergency services at work at a derailed night train (Hollandse Hoogte/REX/Shutterstock)The front carriage of the train between Leiden city and The Hague came off the tracks and ended up in a field after the incident, according to the Netherlands National News Agency (ANP) said.
The four-carriage passenger train was carrying about 50 passengers at the time of the crash.
Railway company NS said in a statement said a passenger train, a freight train and a construction crane were involved in a collision, but the company gave no further details.
"Like everyone else, I'm full of questions and we want to know exactly what happened," NS CEO Wouter Koolmees said in a statement.
"A thorough investigation must be carried out. At the moment, all attention is focused on the well-being of our travellers and colleagues."
Images from the scene showed a front carriage derailed and ploughing into a field, while a second derailed carriage landed on its side. A third carriage remained upright, while a fourth caught fire, ANP said.
"This is an incredibly tragic accident. I sympathize with the victims. Unfortunately, there is also a fatality to mourn. My thoughts go out to all the family and friends of those involved," Voorschoten Mayor Nadine Stemerdink said in a statement.
John Voppen, CEO of the rail network company Pro Rail, called the accident "a black day for Dutch railways and said the cause was under investigation.
“We heard a loud bang and suddenly the lights went out,” an unidentified witness told the local Omroep West television news.
They continued: “We couldn’t initially get out of the train because there was no electricity.”
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Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima also expressed their sympathy in a tweet.