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A rescue operation is underway after a passenger train collided with a truck at a level crossing and derailed in Sokolniki Suche, near Warsaw, in Poland.
There were 120 passengers on board the train. Twenty people were injured, four of them seriously.
Karolina Jaworska, a press officer for the Warsaw State Fire Service, told Euronews that one person had died.
“We know of four people who were seriously injured, one of whom has died. The injured include the train driver, the truck driver and two passengers,” she told Euronews, adding that the person who died was a female passenger.
Jaworska said eight people with minor injuries were taken to hospital.
“A medical triage of the injured was carried out. Four people were handed over to emergency medical teams, including two who were transported by air ambulance helicopters,” the fire service said.
“Shortly before 12:00, a PKP Intercity train collided with a truck at a level crossing near Sokolniki Suche. The collision caused part of the train to derail and overturn,” Poland’s railway infrastructure operator PKP said in a statement.
Police said that “six carriages and the locomotive derailed as a result of the collision.”
PKP said that “emergency services and railway representatives are working at the scene. Adam Wawrzyniak, a member of the PKP Intercity Management Board, has also travelled to the site. Replacement transport is being arranged for passengers, with three buses ordered.”
“PKP Intercity tickets will also be accepted on ŁKA and Polregio trains on designated routes. Emergency services are carrying out rescue operations and securing the scene. The causes and exact circumstances of the accident will be determined by the relevant authorities,” the statement said.
Train services on the line have been suspended.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk reacted to the accident, saying: “We will begin work on tightening regulations for those who enter level crossings despite barriers and red lights. This has to stop.”