Passenger prepare derails after being hit by rockfall, killing one particular person and injuring 4 others
A train carrying 55 passengers derailed Thursday in northern Norway following a landslide, killing one and injuring four people on board, authorities said.
The train was hit by falling rocks on its way from Trondheim to the northern Norwegian town of Bodo, police officer Arild Woldmo told broadcaster NRK.
Bent Are Eilertsen, another police official, told news agency NTB that one person had been killed in the accident and four others required medical care.
‘There were 55 people on board the train when it derailed,’ he told the agency, adding that all passengers had been evacuated from the train.
Ingvart Strand Molster, who was sitting in the first carriage of the train, told local outlet Dagbladet: ‘I never understood why we braked like that, then I was suddenly thrown into a wall.
‘I ended up in the middle of the cart where the bins are. People were lying on top of each other there.’
The train was hit by falling rocks on its way from Trondheim to the northern Norwegian town of Bodo, police officer Arild Woldmo told broadcaster NRK
Picture taken on October 24, 2024 shows the scene where several people were injured and one was killed as a train derailed at Finneidfjord in Nordland, Norway
Another evacuated passenger, Celina Skoglund, said: ‘I am completely shaken. Everyone around me got confused and things were thrown forward in the carriage. I realised when I looked out the window that it had derailed.’
Jan Kenneth Transeth, 49, was in the fourth carriage when the train partially derailed.
He said that the train driver suddenly slammed on the breaks. ‘Then I heard the sound of metal hitting stone. There must have been a slide from the slope down onto the rail corridor,’ he added.
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre of Northern Norway said in a post on X that three helicopters plus emergency services had been dispatched to the scene.
‘It has been a very sad and demanding day for all of us in SJ Norway. Our thoughts now go out to all the relatives,’ Rikke Lind, CEO of the train company, told local media.
‘We are concerned with taking care of all those who have been affected by this tragic incident.’
Images from the scene showed the locomotive and the first of five carriages having slid down an incline next to the track.
NRK shared a video of the inside of the carriages, showing smashed glass from the windows scattered inside the train.
Geologists were expected to carry out a survey before the debris could be cleared and the train lifted.
Witnesses speaking to media said big boulders could be seen on the tracks in front of the train.
Norway, a country with a rugged landscape, is frequently hit by landslides, particularly in spring when the snow melts.
