PRAGUE — A passenger train collided head-on with a freight train in the Czech Republic, killing at least four people and injuring 27 others, officials said Thursday, June 6, 2024.
Interior Minister Vít Rakušan said the crash took place late Wednesday night in the city of Pardubice, about 100 kilometers east of Prague. The high-speed passenger train belonged to the private RegioJet company.
Rakušan said none of the injured was in life-threatening condition.
Rescuers said 380 passengers were on board the train heading for the city of Kosice in eastern Slovakia and further to Chop across the border in Ukraine.
At least two Ukrainian women died in the crash, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“An official of the Consulate of Ukraine in (the Czech city of) Brno is at the scene and in constant contact with rescue and law enforcement agencies,” it said.
Among the people who died were two Slovak women, the Slovak Foreign Ministry said.
The drivers of both trains survived, the local CTK news agency said. / AP