by Laerke Christensen

Eight people have died and another 16 have sustained non-life threatening injuries after a passenger train hit debris from a freight train on the Great Bridge Belt in Denmark on Wednesday the 2nd of January.

No children were among the casualties.

According to Funen Police, the passenger train hit debris that had fallen off a freight train carrying returnable packaging to the Carlsberg Brewery.

The bridge, which connects the Danish islands of Zealand and Funen, was opened for vehicles in the afternoon and train traffic resumed from the morning of the 3rd.

Police and emergency services arrived at the scene but were working under extremely difficult circumstances due to strong wind. They were still working well into the night.

The Danish news organisation DR reported the following statement from Chief Police Inspector for Funen Police Lars Bræmhøj, given at a press conference at 12pm local time on the 2nd January:

“We still don’t know exactly what the cause of the accident is, but we can confirm that some goods had fallen off a traincar and the passenger train collided with that. There is significant damage done to the train.”

“We are still carrying out work at the scene of the accident, which has not been made easier by the strong winds.”

The incident was first reported to Funen Police at 7.35am local time with the first reports stating that eight people had been injured when a passenger train made an emergency stop on the bridge after being hit by a loose tarp from a freight train.

The train had left Aarhus Central Station at 5.19 on the morning of the 2nd, and was carrying 131 passengers when the accident happened, of which two or three were members of staff.

The train was evacuated and all passengers encouraged to contact their families to let them know that they were okay. An evacuation centre was set up in Nyborg on the Funen side of the Great Belt Bridge where psychologists and other experts were on hand to assist passengers.

The accident came as traffic across Denmark was still dealing with the effects of strong winds at the beginning of the year. The Øresund Bridge connecting Denmark and Sweden was closed on the morning of the 2nd but reopened before noon. Elsewhere in the country, strong winds had pushed water inland, causing flooding in many residential areas.

The Great Belt Bridge has more than 10 million vehicle crossings per year and is one of the major links connecting the east and west of Denmark. The connection consists of two bridges and a tunnel and is normally used for vehicle and rail travel.