BRATISLAVA: Six people were killed and five others injured Thursday when a passenger train and bus collided at a railway crossing in southern Slovakia, rescuers said.
The crash occurred just after 5:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) near the southwestern town of Nove Zamky, the CTK news agency reported.
Railway spokeswoman Vladimira Bahylova told AFP the Eurocity train had been headed from Prague to Budapest.
“Six people suffered injuries incompatible with life,” the Slovak rescue service said, updating a previous toll of five dead.
“At least five people were injured,” it added on Facebook.
Petra Klimesova, a spokeswoman of the rescue services, said the injured required “immediate medical assistance.”
“I am afraid the number of people killed in this accident might grow,” she told AFP.
Bahylova said the driver of the train “suffered burns because the locomotive caught on fire.”
She said the collision occurred at a railway crossing that was protected by barriers and was equipped with light signals.
Local media published video footage of passengers carrying luggage alongside a train partially in flames, as thick grey smoke rose to the sky.
Passenger Katarina Molnarova, who recorded the video, told AFP that she “felt and heard a crash and a bang” just as the train left the Nove Zamky station.
“After a couple of minutes we were able to get off... We saw that the frontal part of the train was on fire,” said the 43-year-old cosmetician from the southern town of Sturovo.
“There was no screaming or panicking... We grabbed our luggage and walked to the road... I saw parts of the bus that had been scattered upon impact.”
Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok and deputy police chief Rastislav Polakovic were on their way to the scene of the incident, police said on Facebook.
Six killed as train collides with bus in Slovakia
https://arab.news/bebru
Six killed as train collides with bus in Slovakia
- “Six people suffered injuries incompatible with life,” the Slovak rescue service said, updating a previous toll of five dead
- Petra Klimesova, a spokeswoman of the rescue services, said: “I am afraid the number of people killed in this accident might grow“
Sweden seizes false-flagged ship with suspected stolen Ukrainian grain
- The Russian embassy in Stockholm said it had been informed by the Swedish coast guard that 10 of the crew were Russian citizens
STOCKHOLM: Police in Sweden have seized a false-flagged cargo ship off its southern coast believed to belong to Russia’s shadow fleet and suspected of transporting stolen Ukrainian grain, authorities said Saturday.
The 96-meter (315-foot) Caffa left Casablanca in Morocco on February 24 and was headed for Saint Petersburg, Russia when armed Swedish police boarded it on Friday off the southern town of Trelleborg.
“The vessel is on the Ukraine sanctions list. Information indicates that it has essentially been used to transport grain that is stolen, as we understand it, from Ukraine,” the coast guard’s acting head of operations, Daniel Stenling, told a press conference.
“We have been able to establish that the vessel is sailing under a false flag. She is registered in Guinea, but that registration is in fact false,” he added.
“A majority” of the 11 crew members were Russian, Stenling said.
The Russian embassy in Stockholm said it had been informed by the Swedish coast guard that 10 of the crew were Russian citizens.
“The Russian embassy in Sweden is in contact with the competent Swedish authorities and is ready, if necessary, to provide consular assistance to the Russian nationals among the crew,” it wrote on Telegram.
One crew member was under investigation for violation of the maritime code on seaworthiness and on ship safety, Stenling said, refusing to disclose the suspect’s identity or crew role.
“The investigative measures we have taken so far reinforce our suspicions and our view that there are extensive maritime safety deficiencies on this vessel,” he said.
The Swedish Transport Agency was to inspect the ship and determine whether it was seaworthy and authorized to continue its journey.
- ‘Risk of accidents’ -
Moscow’s “shadow fleet” consists of vessels with opaque ownership used to skirt Western sanctions.
“It’s a problem for us that we are seeing more ships that don’t respect the law of the sea,” Stenling said, noting that “the risk of accidents increases when ships are not certified.”
“We might not even know what kind of crew is on board, what kind of skills they have, what certifications they hold, and they often lack insurance if something were to happen,” he added.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga on Saturday thanked Sweden.
“Collective action against such vessels is gaining momentum. This is a welcome development,” he wrote on X.
“Sanctions work when they are strictly enforced. Together, we must stop the activities of Russia’s shadow fleet to protect Europe’s security and environment.”
