Latest news with #passengerrescue
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS 'Syrian' axeman attacks German train passengers, leaving four injured before he is overpowered
Several people were injured after a man wielding an axe attacked passengers on a busy train in Germany today. The suspect, who has not been identified, was said to have lashed out at travellers on board the ICE 91 train to Vienna this afternoon. The man, believed to be Syrian, was alleged to have boarded with an axe and a hammer, before one brazen passenger disarmed him of one of the weapons and fought back, Bild reports. Passengers reportedly surrounded the suspect and pulled the emergency brake to stop the train before police were able to arrest him. At least four people were slightly injured in the attack, according to Welt. The suspect was said to have been seriously injured and flown to hospital by helicopter. The train is understood to have been carrying some 500 passengers at the time. Police said in a statement that a man 'injured several people with dangerous objects shortly before Straßkirchen' this afternoon. The police statement did not make clear whether the suspect was one of the four injured in the attack. Police were joined at the scene by firefighters and other emergency services in 'large numbers', with 150 personnel reportedly being deployed. The railway line is currently closed, police said, and the railway company stated it was 'horrified by the violent attack.'
The Independent
21-06-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Passengers stuck on broken-down train ‘like an oven' on hottest day of the year
Passengers were forced to walk along a railway track in sizzling heat after they claimed they were being 'slow-cooked' inside a broken-down train carriage. British Transport Police freed dozens of Thameslink passengers after the train between London Blackfriars and Herne Hill broke down on Saturday. Temperatures soared to nearly 34C in some parts of the UK, making it the country's hottest day of the year so far. An enraged passenger said on social media: 'We have been stuck on this hot and humid train for over an hour. It is like an oven in here and we are being slow-cooked.' Passenger Clare added: 'We are stuck on this train, all boiling alive. No air con. Please can you get this train moving.' Another issued a plea for help, asking Thameslink when it would rescue people stuck inside the sweltering carriages with 'no AC'. Thameslink said the train broke down near Loughborough Junction due to a 'fault', which causes services across the network to undergo 'significant disruption'. A spokesperson said: 'Earlier today, a fault on a train near Loughborough Junction brought all services to a halt in the area, three of them outside station platforms. 'Without power and air conditioning on such a hot day, we pulled all resources from across Sussex and Kent to get personnel on site to safely evacuate passengers as quickly as possible along the track. 'This would have been a difficult and uncomfortable experience for our passengers and we are truly sorry. The safest place was to remain on the trains while we worked our hardest to get help to those on board.' An amber heat-health alert, issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) for the first time since September 2023, for all regions in England remains in place over the weekend. The agency warned that significant impacts are likely across health and social care services, including an increase in demand, during the alert period. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Imperial College London research warned that around 570 people could die due to the heat over the four days. The excess deaths were estimated to peak at 266 on Saturday when the heat will be at its most intense. London was predicted to have the greatest number of excess deaths at 129. The researchers said their assessment highlights how extreme heat poses a growing threat to public health in the UK. Many charities have also issued warnings as the hotter weather continues this week. The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is encouraging people with heart conditions to take precautions to minimise potential health risks during a heatwave. Age UK has urged people to check in on older relatives, friends, and neighbours to see if they need anything and to make sure they are not feeling overwhelmed by the excessive heat. Meanwhile, the Met Office has warned Britons that a tornado could hit as severe thunderstorms are set to strike the UK within hours. The forecaster warned parts of the country 'could start to see tornado activity' later on Saturday as a yellow thunderstorm weather warning comes into force.
The Guardian
20-05-2025
- The Guardian
High-voltage wire collapses on Sydney train leaving 300 trapped and causing major delays across network
Sydney's train network has been thrown into chaos after high-voltage wire collapsed on the top of a train, trapping 300 passengers and causing disruption to lines going in and out of central Sydney. Howard Collins, the coordinator general for Transport for NSW, told reporters on Tuesday afternoon response teams were working to ensure the correct isolations were put in place to remove the 300 passengers on that train and the trains around it which were caught when the power was switched off. 'The most important thing here is safety, making sure we do that under safe conditions and there's no risk of the power being switched on by accident or other means,' Collins said. 'So once we've done that, our own response team, plus also the assistance of police and other emergency services, will safely evacuate those people off the train and to the nearest station.' Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Transport engineers needed to make sure the correct isolations were in place, and earthing bonds were put on before passengers could be let off the train. 'It's life threatening if you get very near or touch wires with that amount of voltage and ambient – it will kill you straight away,' Collins said. There were significant delays expected for the T1 (North Shore and Western line), T2 (Leppington and Inner West line), T3 (Liverpool and Inner West line), T8 (Airport and South Line) as well as lines to Newcastle via Strathfield as a result of theissue. The T4 line was not affected. Collins said the issue should be fixed on Tuesday night, but advised commuters to check the news in the morning. Transport for NSW advised people to plan for extra travel time or consider using Metro services between Epping, Chatswood and Central, or alternative bus routes. Collins said the alternatives were very limited, so people should avoid using the rail network where possible, but lines cannot be resumed until the wire on top of the train had been made safe. Collins said Uber had put in a price surging cap to prevent massive price hikes for the ride-share service. It was too early to say what brought the cable down, Collins said, but the overhead wire was 'maintained to a very strict standard'. 'But like anything mechanical, there may be a reason why this has occurred,' he said. 'It is very unusual but does happen on overhead wire lines around every state and around the globe.'
