Six Dead in High-Speed Croatian Train Crash Outside Zagreb

by Blaine Metzgar | July 24, 2009 at 10:02 am

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Six people have died in a high-speed train crash outside of Zagreb, Croatia on July 24, 2009. The train derailed en route to the coastal town of Split; the derailment occurred midday at the height of tourist season in the Mediterranean country. Along with the six dead dozens were injured in the crash.

"Six people have been killed," police spokeswoman Marina Kraljevic Gudelj told national radio.

Holidaymakers including at least one foreigner, a French girl who suffered internal injuries, were among the 55 people who were extracted from the wreckage and rushed to hospital, according to national radio.

Six children were among those taken to the main hospital in Split, the report said.

90 passengers were on board the train, designed to tilt and lean into bends in the tracks, when it derailed.

Paramedics and firefighters were at the scene, though the rough terrain made it difficult for them to approach the site of the accident, the television report said.

Croatia Railways and the country's transport ministry declined to provide any details on the number of casualties in the accident.

The site of the derailment has a history of incidents; 33 people were killed at the same spot in 1966 and only last year another derailment took place although there were no fatalities.