The passengers are safe and an evacuation is underway. The causes of the accident are under investigation.
Six firefighting units are on the scene. After leaving the station, the Pendolino collided with the ČD Cargo backup shunting locomotive "Tomcat" shortly after 5 a.m. Four of its workers were injured and one person from the Pendolino died. Sixteen passengers were unharmed, the firefighters of the Moravian-Silesian region said on Twitter.
"The most likely possibility is the so-called illegal driving, that is, the Pendolino passed a signal prohibiting driving, so it did not have the switches set up correctly and drove into a place it should not have," Jan Kučera, inspector general of the Railway Inspectorate, told the Czech News server. The material damage, he said, will run into tens of millions.
