At least one person died and 30 were injured when a passenger train derailed in the Netherlands early Tuesday morning.
A spokesman for the security forces told Dutch Radio that about 30 people were injured, some of them seriously.
She added that 19 people were hospitalized. There was no information about their condition.
King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and his wife Queen Maxima said on social media today Tuesday that their thoughts are with the victims and their families, and that “many people are feeling fear and insecurity right now. We have great sympathy for all of them.”
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said it was a “terrible train accident”.
Rutte added on Twitter: “My thoughts are with the families and all the victims. I wish them much strength.”
A spokesman for the railway company said that around 3:25 am (01:25 GMT), an intercity passenger train and a freight train collided with a construction crane near the town of Voorschoten, about 15 km from The Hague.
Train company Prorail said 50 to 60 passengers were on an overnight train from Amsterdam to The Hague when the accident occurred.
The company initially did not say anything about the cause of the accident.
According to eyewitnesses, the passenger train turned into a meadow, and at least two carriages overturned. A freight train was also reported to have derailed.
Most of the passengers managed to leave the train on their own.
“There was a lot of noise, the windows were broken,” one passenger told Dutch Radio. The car in which he was sitting tipped over, and he managed to quickly free himself.
Eyewitnesses said that some of the passengers were picked up by local residents.
According to journalists, emergency services arrived at the scene, and chaos reigned.
And the road from Amsterdam to The Hague is very busy. After the accident, traffic between Leiden and The Hague was stopped.
