On a railway line in Recklinghausen (North Rhine-Westphalia), several people were apparently hit by a train on Thursday. As a spokeswoman for the Recklinghausen police told the AFP news agency, the accident happened in the evening on the railway line between Recklinghausen-Ost and Recklinghausen-Hauptbahnhof, as a police spokeswoman told the AFP news agency. Accordingly, a freight train is involved in the accident, which was reported to the police at 6:12 p.m. The police initially did not provide any information about the victims.
The route is closed between Gladbeck and Recklinghausen main station, said a spokeswoman for Deutsche Bahn. There are restrictions on regional traffic on the S9, RE2 and RE42 train lines. Long-distance traffic is not affected.
According to the fire department, 35 firefighters and rescue workers were deployed. "We searched the track bed," said a spokesman for the fire department. Due to the darkness and the extent of the search area, a drone was used. The accident site is near a former freight yard. Recklinghausen is located in the northern Ruhr area.
The WDR reported that the people "were dragged along for several hundred meters". Accordingly, a large contingent of the fire brigade was in action and searched the tracks. According to the "image", the group consists of several young people.