Germany may be careening towards a head on-collision when it comes to Europe’s worsening migrant crisis, but tragically, the country had a very real fatal train wreck on Tuesday when two commuter trains crashed near Bad Aibling, in Bavaria.
Just before 7 a.m. two regional trains collided on a rail line which Bloomberg notes "is commonly used by commuters heading to work in Munich, and would normally also carry children traveling to school."
It's not clear what caused the crash but authorities say it's "the biggest accident they've had in years." Both trains are partially derailed and sit "wedged against each other" as as "hundreds" of emergency personnel search the wreckage for survivors.
The cause of the crash is a still unknown. "We need to find out know what happened, if the cause of the crash was based on the technology or human failure," Federal Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said.
The Munich city blood center is on high alert. "[We have] an acute increased need for life-saving blood products," the site said, calling for "immediate donations". Here's NBC:
At least nine people were killed and 150 injured when two commuter trains collided in southern Germany early Thursday, officials said.
A massive rescue operation was launched following the crash near the town of Bad Aibling in Bavaria at around 7 a.m. local time (1 a.m. ET).
Police spokeswoman Lisa Meier told NBC News that rescuers believed all survivors had been pulled from the wreckage as of noon local time.
At least 50 of the injuries from the crash were considered to be "serious," according to police.
German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt rushed to the scene, calling the incident a "terrible catastrophe" and saying the cause needed to be investigated.
Here are the visuals:
http://player.theplatform.com/p/2E2eJC/nbcNewsOffsite
For now, no one is blaming Mid-East asylum seekers. That could change in the hours ahead. "We need to find out what happened, if the cause of the crash was based on the technology or human failure," Dobrindt added.
"This is a huge shock," he said.