Updated: At least 2 Ukrainian women killed in train collision in Czechia
Editor's note: The article was updated at 11:15 a.m. with Ukraine's Foreign Ministry's statement and at 2:35 p.m. with a statement from the Czech Rail Safety Inspection Office.
A passenger train with several railcars traveling to Chop in western Ukraine collided with a cargo train in Czechia late on June 5, leaving at least four dead and dozens injured, the Czech police said.
The death toll included two Ukrainian women, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said, adding that the citizenship of the other two fatalities is being determined. Ukrainian Railways previously said that there were no fatalities or injuries in the railcars with passengers heading to Chop.
Twenty-seven people were injured, the Czech Press Agency reported.
The tragic incident, involving a 1021 Prague-Kosice train operated by the Czech private company RegioJet and a CD Cargo freighter, occurred shortly before midnight near a new train station in the Czech city of Pardubice.
Over 300 passengers were reportedly on board of the passenger train, whose frontal part suffered the heaviest damage.
The country's Rail Safety Inspection Office said that the passenger train missed a traffic light barring entry and entered a track of the freighter, leading to the collision.
Whether this was caused by a technical malfunction or a human error is currently being investigated, the office said.
The RegioJet train Prague-Przemysl, a connection regularly used by Ukrainians traveling between Czechia and Ukraine, is expected to be delayed.
Martin Fornusek
