AT least 42 people have been injured after two high-speed passenger trains crashed in the Czech Republic, authorities said.
Firefighters and paramedics rushed to the scene after the accident occurred near the city of České Budějovice – 100 miles south of Prague.
A spokeswoman for a regional hospital told news agency CTK that five people had been admitted with serious injuries.
The rest of the passengers sustained minor injuries and were quickly treated by the medics.
Transport Minister Martin Kupka said on X that the crash was still under investigation.
He added that preliminary information showed one of the trains likely passed a signal in the stop position.
Ambulance service spokeswoman Petra Kafkova said: “There are 40 people with light injuries and two with serious injuries.”
Martin Kavka, a spokesman for the rail operator Sprava zeleznic, said all passengers have been evacuated from the trains.
He declined to say how the crash happened, adding that the investigation was still ongoing.
The traffic between České Budějovice and the city of Plzeň was halted and was not expected to resume until the afternoon.
It comes just days after two trains smashed into each other in Slovakia, injuring some 100 people.
Around 800 people were on board the two vehicles when they collided around 12 miles north of the capital, Bratislava.
Some 79 people were rushed to the hospital following the crash, according to Slovakia’s Emergency Medical Service Operations Centre.
A further 60 were treated for more minor injuries, Pravda reports.
Three of those were in a serious condition with injuries to their chests and abdomens.
Meanwhile, another high-speed train with 400 passengers on board ploughed into a fruit lorry.
Shocking footage shows the lorry going across the tracks before bizarrely reversing when a car approaches – as seconds later a train smashes into it.
Thousands of fresh, juicy pears can be seen flying out of the lorry with debris strewn across the tracks.
Five people inside the 10-wheeler were left injured, cops confirmed.
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