At least 35 people were injured, most of them lightly, when two passenger trains collided on the morning of Wednesday (September 18) in Prague.
“A train ran a red signal and collided with a stationary train,” said Dusan Gavenda, a spokesperson for the Czech railway infrastructure company Správa železnic, to Agence France-Presse.
Emergency services in Prague reported that first aid was provided to the 35 injured, noting that “no one’s life was in danger.” Most injuries were described as “bruises and abrasions,” though some fractures were also recorded.
The Prague fire department announced that about 200 people were evacuated from the accident site.
According to the police, one of the train drivers tested positive for alcohol and is undergoing blood tests. The national railway company (České dráhy / ČD) confirmed that the driver tested positive for alcohol but expressed doubts about whether he was responsible for the accident.
The second train was operated by the company KŽC, as reported by the Czech News Agency (ČTK).
Railway accidents are not uncommon in the Czech Republic, which has a population of 10.9 million. Last June, four people were killed and more than 20 were injured when a passenger train collided with a freight train in the city of Pardubice.
