Emergency workers found another body under the rubble of a train that derailed in southern Germany on Friday, bringing the total number of deaths to five.
Rescuers continued looking for survivors this morning following the disaster in the picturesque mountainous region north of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria.
A regional train travelling from the Alpine ski resort to Munich spun off the tracks, causing at least three carriages to overturn.
Authorities said five people are confirmed dead and 44 are hurt, including three passengers who are being treated in hospital for serious injuries.
A police spokesperson said a major operation to free people from the wreckage had been completed.
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‘As far as we can tell, all the people have been rescued from the train,’ the spokesperson said, adding that removing the overturned wagons would ‘certainly take a few days.’
On Saturday, however, Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said it was possible that there could still be bodies trapped underneath the rubble, saying some seven people were still unaccounted for.
Around 140 people were on board when the accident happened.
After several failed attempts, cranes succeeded on Saturday in hoisting at least one carriage of the train which had rolled off the tracks.
Prosecutors have launched an investigation into the cause of the incident.
Regional and national politicians visited the site and expressed their shock.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was shocked by the news and images of the accident.
‘Our sympathy is with the relatives, with the injured, to whom we wish a speedy recovery,’ he told broadcasters RTL and ntv.
The state premier of Bavaria, Markus Söder, said on Saturday during a visit to the site of the accident that it was an ‘incomprehensible thing to happen.’
‘We hope very much that there are no further deaths,’ he said, adding that such an accident was always a shock and a ‘blow to the heart’.
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