The derailment of a train on Sunday in a wooded area in southwest Germany which left three dead could have been caused by a landslide following the bad weather, local police and justice said on Monday.
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“According to the first hypotheses, the heavy rains that fell on the accident area would have caused overflow of a sewer,” said ULM police and Ravensburg prosecutors in a joint statement.
“The water would then have caused a landslide in the embankment bordering the railroad track, which would have led to the derailment of the train,” add the investigators that there is no sign of a criminal act.
About 100 passengers were on the train when the accident occurred around 6:10 p.m. (4:10 p.m. GMT) near the city of Riedlingen, in the Land of Baden-Wurtemberg.
Violent thunderstorms swept the region at the time of the accident, according to weather services.
Three people died in the accident, including the driver of the train and a staff member on board, and at least 41 people were injured, some of them seriously.
Traffic is still suspended on the affected rail line and cleaning work should start on Tuesday.
