Austria: 200 passengers evacuated after train catches fire

Some 200 passengers in Austria were evacuated on Wednesday (June 7) after the train they were travelling in caught fire in a tunnel in Tyrol. Speaking to the news agency AFP, local police said that around 45 passengers suffered minor injuries, likely from smoke inhalation. According to a spokesperson for the Austrian rail operator OeBB, the train headed to Hamburg and Amsterdam was passing through a tunnel close toInnsbruck in the Austrian Alps when its overhead wire snapped.

The cause of the fireappeared to be a faulty overhead electric wire that fell on a trailer attached to the train that was transporting passengers’ cars and set two vehicles ablaze.

"The fire was extinguished at 22:19, and the evacuation was complete by 23:40 local time," the official added.

Authorities remove train from the tunnel

On Thursday, authorities started removing the train from the tunnel where it got stuck. Following the removal, the train was set to be hauled back to the central station in Innsbruck, a report by the news agency Associated Press said.

Initially, officials had said that around 370 passengers might be on board but later said this was an estimate based on total ticket reservation numbers that turned out to be inaccurate on closer inspection at the scene.

"According to our current information, there is a total of 33 people with light injuries, who were taken to nearby hospitals for further evaluation," a statement said, adding700 emergency services were at the incident site.

Passengers who did not need any medical attentionwere taken by bus to Innsbruck, where they were offered accommodation.

(With inputs from agencies)

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