The Hague
\nAt least one person was killed and 30 injured, many seriously, when a passenger train carrying about 50 people derailed in the Netherlands early on Tuesday after hitting a construction crane, officials said.
\nRescue teams were seen ferrying away the injured in pre-dawn darkness at the scene of the accident at Voorschoten, a village near The Hague. The accident happened around 3:25 a.m. (0125 GMT), emergency services said.
\nNineteen people were taken to hospital. Others were being treated on the spot, the emergency services said.
\nDutch Railways official Carola Belderbos said the train collided with the crane and the injured included the driver and two conductors.
\nThe front carriage of the night train from Leiden city to The Hague derailed, emergency services said. The second carriage was on its side and a fire broke out in the rear carriage but was extinguished, it said.
\nEarlier reports said the passenger train had collided with a freight train. Dutch Railways spokesperson Erik Kroeze said a freight train carrying chalk was involved in the accident but could not give details.
\nJeroen Wienen of Prorail, which maintains the rails, said several investigations had been initiated, including by the company itself, the police and the Dutch Safety Board, which looks into serious accidents.
\n\u201cFortunately enough this is a very, very unique accident, but it\u2019s a horrible accident,\u201d Wienen told Reuters at the site of the accident.
\n\u201cWe at Prorail are doing the investigation primarily to see what happened and how we can avoid this in the future,\u201d he said, adding: \u201ceverybody\u2019s really shaken up.\u201d
\nDutch Railways said in a tweet that trains between Leiden and parts of The Hague were cancelled due to the accident.
\nPrime Minister Mark Rutte and the Netherlands\u2019 royal family were among those who expressed their sympathy for the victims.
\n\u201cMy thoughts are with the relatives and with all the victims. I wish them all the best,\u201d Rutte said in a tweet. \u201cWe deeply sympathize with all of them,\u201d King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Hague At least one person was killed and 30 injured, many seriously, when a passenger train carrying about 50 people derailed in the Netherlands early on Tuesday after hitting a construction crane, officials said. Rescue teams were seen ferrying away the injured in pre-dawn darkness at the scene of the accident at Voorschoten, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323907,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-323876","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n