Train collision injures two dozen in Berlin

Police reported that a two-story Regional Express Line 3 train had just passed through a station when it apparently hit a parked freight train head on. All 24 passengers and personnel on board were injured when the first two train cars derailed, sustaining severe damage after hitting the freight train.

The two-dozen freight cars were heavily laden with industrial chemicals butene and hydrocarbon, but police said there was no leakage as the train remained largely undamaged.

Fire fighters had to free the severely injured train conductor from his seat, meanwhile rescue operations shut down regional and S-Bahn traffic in the area.

Service to the RE 3 line, the ICE Line between Cologne-Berlin-Stralsund and the Stralsund-Angermünde-Berlin-Elsterwerda line have been reduced, Deutsche Bahn said.

Police are still investigating the cause of the accident.