The death toll from derailing a German train near a Bavarian alpine resort has risen to five, police said after another body was removed from the wreckage.
Investigators searched overturned carriages for victims and clues as to the cause of Friday’s derailment near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a region preparing to host a G-7 summit in late June.
“We don’t believe there are any other victims at the moment, but I still can’t say for sure,” Regional Deputy Police Chief Frank Hallowig told reporters on Saturday.
He said four of the dead were women and 44 were injured, some of them children.
The accident happened shortly after noon, when school holidays began in the two southern German regions of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria.
Police said the regional train was very crowded with about 140 people on board, as a new € 9 public transport ticket (£ 7.70), valid across Germany, also boosted demand.
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing visited the site of the derailment on Saturday and said he was very excited. “We will continue to investigate and get to the bottom of what happened,” he said.
The head of the German railway company Deutsche Bahn, Richard Lutz, also visited the crash site and said he was saddened by the death and promised a thorough investigation.
The train had just left Garmisch-Partenkirchen for the capital of the Bavarian state of Munich when the accident took place in the Burgrain district.
The region has begun preparations to host a G7 summit of world leaders between June 26th and 28th. Heads of state and government, including US President Joe Biden, are scheduled to meet at the Schloss Elmau, seven miles (11 km) from Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
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