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.
Interior Minister Vít Rakušan said the crash took place late Wednesday night in the city of Pardubice, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) 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.
The drivers of both trains survived, the local CTK news agency said.
Transport Minister Martin Kupka said the main track between Prague and the eastern part of the country had to be closed while authorities investigated the collision. It was only partially reopened nine hours later and the state-run train company, Czech Railways, advised that passengers should avoid using the route for the whole day.
The corridor in Pardubice, where the trains collided, is vital for Czech Railways.
Martin Drápal, a spokesperson for a state agency that investigates train crashes, said the driver of the train carrying passengers failed to halt the train at a stop sign. He said it was not immediately clear if that was caused by human error or a technical problem.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala called the crash a big tragedy and offered his condolences to the families of those killed. So did Radim Jančura, the owner of RegioJet, who said his company was ready to compensate the passengers.
At least 4 people killed, 27 injured after trains collide in the Czech Republic, officials say
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At least 4 people killed, 27 injured after trains collide in the Czech Republic, officials say
- Interior Minister Vít Rakušan said the crash took place late Wednesday night in the city of Pardubice
- Rakušan said none of the injured was in life-threatening condition
Bangladesh begins exhuming mass grave from 2024 uprising
- The United Nations says up to 1,400 people were killed in crackdowns as Hasina attempted to cling to power — deaths that formed part of her conviction last month for crimes against humanity
DHAKA: Bangladeshi police began exhuming on Sunday a mass grave believed to contain around 114 unidentified victims of a mass uprising that toppled autocratic former prime minister Sheikh Hasina last year.
The UN-supported effort is being advised by Argentine forensic anthropologist Luis Fondebrider, who has led recovery and identification missions at mass graves worldwide for decades.
The bodies were buried at the Rayerbazar Graveyard in Dhaka by the volunteer group Anjuman Mufidul Islam, which said it handled 80 unclaimed bodies in July and another 34 in August 2024 — all people reported to have been killed during weeks of deadly protests.
The United Nations says up to 1,400 people were killed in crackdowns as Hasina attempted to cling to power — deaths that formed part of her conviction last month for crimes against humanity.
Criminal Investigation Department (CID) chief Md Sibgat Ullah said investigators believed the mass grave held roughly 114 bodies, but the exact number would only be known once exhumations were complete.
“We can only confirm once we dig the graves and exhume the bodies,” Ullah told reporters.
- ‘Searched for him’ -
Among those hoping for answers is Mohammed Nabil, who is searching for the remains of his brother Sohel Rana, 28, who vanished in July 2024.
“We searched for him everywhere,” Nabil told AFP.
He said his family first suspected Rana’s death after seeing a Facebook video, then recognized his clothing — a blue T-shirt and black trousers — in a photograph taken by burial volunteers.
Exhumed bodies will be given post-mortem examinations and DNA testing. The process is expected to take several weeks to complete.
“It’s been more than a year, so it won’t be possible to extract DNA from the soft tissues,” senior police officer Abu Taleb told AFP. “Working with bones would be more time-consuming.”
Forensic experts from four Dhaka medical colleges are part of the team, with Fondebrider brought in to offer support as part of an agreement with the UN rights body the OHCHR.
“The process is complex and unique,” Fondebrider told reporters. “We will guarantee that international standards will be followed.”
Fondebrider previously headed the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, founded in 1984 to investigate the tens of thousands who disappeared during Argentina’s former military dictatorship.
Authorities say the exhumed bodies will be reburied in accordance with religious rites and their families’ wishes.
Hasina, convicted in absentia last month and sentenced to death, remains in self-imposed exile in India.
