Three dead and dozens hurt after train derails in German forest
The cause of the crash near Riedlingen in Baden-Württemberg is being investigated after two carriages carrying about 100 passengers slid off the track.
Video footage from the scene of the accident showed rescue teams working by the trackside in a steep forested area to get people out as screams could be heard.
'We mourn the victims. I express my condolences to their families,' said Friedrich Merz, the chancellor, on X, adding: 'The train accident in the Biberach district dismays me. I am in close contact with the minister of the interior and the minister of transport and have asked them to support the rescue services with all means at their disposal.'
Emergency workers and six air ambulance helicopters were sent to the scene, where 34 people were injured. Photographs showed trees torn up and a broken axle on one of the carriages that had turned on its side.
The Regional Express 55 travelling from Sigmaringen to Ulm derailed at 6.10pm near Riedlingen, about 28 miles southeast of Ulm.
There had been a thunderstorm and heavy rain in the area and photos showed what appeared to be parts of the embankment sliding into the track bed, covering the rails in mud.
According to the weather service, severe thunderstorms swept across the region in the early evening with heavy rainfall.
Initial findings by police, according to the Schwäbische Zeitung newspaper, suggested that the landslide was responsible for the accident. The front of the train was catapulted 5m up the slope of the embankment and crashed into trees.
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