Formula One fans walk along the train station platform as they arrive for the Dutch Formula One Grand Prix at the Zandvoort circuit on Sept 4, 2022. (PHOTO / AFP)
AMSTERDAM — About 30 people were injured, many seriously, when a passenger train carrying at least 50 people derailed in the Netherlands early on Tuesday after hitting construction equipment on the track, Dutch emergency services said.
Rescue teams were at the scene of the accident at Voorschoten, a village near The Hague, the emergency services said.
A fire department spokesman told Dutch radio that 19 people were taken to hospital. Others were being treated on the spot, the emergency services said.
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The front carriage of the night train from Leiden city to The Hague derailed and ploughed into a field after the accident, ANP news agency said. The second carriage was on its side and a fire broke out in the rear carriage but was later extinguished, it said.
Earlier reports had said the passenger train had collided with a freight train. Dutch Railways (NS) spokesman Erik Kroeze said a freight train was involved in the accident but could not give details.
He said he had no information on the injured and fatalities, if any.
Dutch Railways said in a tweet that trains between Leiden and parts of The Hague were cancelled due to the accident.