The accident occurred around 4:40 p.m. local time on Monday, and emergency services are at the scene, according to international news website BNO News.
Andreas Franken, spokesperson for the Munich Police Department, told reporters at the scene that initial estimates indicate that 95 total passengers were on board the trains at the time of the accident, with at least 14 injured and one confirmed dead, according to Merkur, a local German newspaper. Some passengers were still being evacuated from the trains when Franken spoke to reporters, meaning the number of injured passengers could continue to grow, Merkur added.
Franken later told local media around 10:30 p.m. local time (4:30 p.m. EST) that the number of injured passengers had climbed to 18, with five sustaining “serious” injuries and 13 being treated for “moderate” injuries, according to Merkur.
The fire department later said that the confirmed fatality was a 24-year-old male passenger whose name has not yet made public, Merkur reported.
The trains collided on a single track route after one train departed from its station and hit another train that was entering the same station, according to Merkur. Eyewitnesses told the paper that one of the trains stopped repeatedly before passengers heard a loud noise, and many were thrown from their seats when the collision occurred. Once one of the compartments began to smoke, passengers forced their way out of the train, according to the paper and Russian news website RT.
Franken said one of the trains was pushed off the track on impact, but it managed to remain upright. He also said an investigation has been opened into the cause of the accident.
Newsweek has reached out to German police for comment on the status of the accident.
The company that operates the trains tweeted that the route where the collision took place has been closed, and a bus service has been established as a temporary replacement.
“This is terrible news. We mourn with the relatives and wish all those injured in the S-Bahn accident a speedy recovery,” tweeted Bavarian Minister-President Markus Soeder. “Thanks to all the rescue workers for their quick action.”
A similar accident was narrowly avoided in August, when two trains managed to brake before they collided with over 30 passengers on board, according to BR, a German public broadcasting company.
Around the same time in August, trains from Germany and the Czech Republic collided, killing three people and injuring dozens more, BR also reported.
A train operator was sentenced to over three years in jail after two trains collided outside Bad Aibling, Germany, in 2016 in an accident that killed a dozen people and injured 89, according to BBC News.
Update 2/14/22, 6:59 p.m.: This story has been updated with additional information and context.
