THE HAGUE, April 5: At least one person was killed and 30 were injured after a passenger train derailed on Tuesday morning in the western Dutch province of South Holland, following a collision with a construction crane.
The incident occurred around 3:25 a.m. local time (0225 GMT) Tuesday in Voorschoten, a small town in South Holland, according to a regional safety board.
The person who died was an employee of a construction company working on-site at the railways at night, Dutch news channel RTL Nieuws reported.
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At least 50 passengers traveled from Leiden to The Hague in South Holland on the train. Those injured were treated on-site, and 19 people with minor and severe injuries were taken to hospital. The rest of the passengers were evacuated.
Dutch national broadcaster NOS reported that a freight train collided with the construction crane, and then the passenger train also crashed with the construction crane. The passenger train derailed, and the front carriage of the train's four wagons landed in the pasture next to the track.
During a press conference, Mayor Nadine Stemerdink of Voorschoten expressed her condolences to the victims.
"This is a black day for the railways," said CEO John Voppen of ProRail, responsible for maintaining and extending national railway infrastructure.
It is yet unclear how the incident happened.
The Dutch Safety Board started an investigation into the cause of the crash, while the public prosecution began a criminal investigation for possible criminal offenses committed.
