A train crash in the Czech Republic on Wednesday night killed at least four people and injured more than 20, according to authorities.
A passenger train was headed to Kosice, Slovakia, with approximately 380 passengers on board when it collided with a freight train, according to the National Fire and Rescue Service. The accident occurred in Pardubice, a city located about 100 kilometers east of Prague, where the passenger train had started its journey.
The freight train was carrying calcium carbide, a caustic and flammable chemical compound used, among other things, in the manufacture of steel. According to the Fire and Rescue Service, there was no leak after the accident.
Images from the scene appeared to show that some of the carriages had derailed. Early Thursday, emergency workers were seen helping passengers and their luggage off the train in videos released by authorities. The uninjured passengers were taken to Pardubice station and the children were given stuffed animals.
Martin Kupka, Czech Transport Minister, traveled overnight with the Interior Minister to the scene of the accident and expressed his condolences on social media.
Train schedules on the Pardubice line, one of the country’s main rail corridors, are expected to be affected until Thursday as authorities investigate the scene. Investigators have not yet offered any theories about the cause of the accident.
According to authorities, RegioJet, a private railway and bus company, is the operator of the passenger train that crashed.