A massive crash occurred on Thursday, June 27, 2024, involving a EuroCity train and a local bus in the vicinity of Nove Zamky, Slovakia. The incident resulted in seven fatalities and five injuries. The train, en route from Prague, Czech Republic to Budapest, Hungary collided with the bus shortly after 5 p.m. local time.
Statements issued by Slovakia’s rescue service and the Slovak railway company ZSSK confirmed that all the deceased were bus passengers, with no fatalities aboard the train, which was carrying approximately 200 passengers. The Slovak ambulance service revealed the bus had nine passengers at the time of the accident.
Video recordings from the scene displayed the train’s engine ablaze, and the bus split in two due to the force of the collision. Slovakia’s Interior Minister Matus Sutai Estok, who arrived at the accident site, verified that the victims’ identities were yet to be confirmed.
The railway track connecting Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, with Budapest was shut down until 4 a.m. on Friday for investigation and repair operations. Passengers stranded on the train were transported via buses to Sturovo, a town on the Hungarian border.
The rescue operations faced challenges due to the closure of the local hospital, which experienced flooding after heavy rainfall the previous night. Consequently, the injured were transported to medical facilities in nearby towns and cities. The train’s driver, a Czech citizen, suffered minor burns, while the bus driver survived the crash.
Slovakia’s transport minister, Jozef Ráž, noted that severe weather had affected the region the day before, resulting in the railroad track’s closure. Ráž explained, “It was likely an individual human error that caused the train to appear on a track where it wasn’t supposed to be.”
Slovakia’s President Peter Pellegrini, who was attending a European Union leaders’ summit in Brussels at the time, expressed his condolences to the families of the victims. “I wish the injured a speedy recovery and thank the doctors and rescue teams for their work done. I wish that such catastrophes would spare Slovakia in the future,” Pellegrini stated.
In the wake of the incident, local authorities alongside railway officials have initiated a comprehensive investigation to ascertain the exact cause of the accident. The crossing where the collision took place is equipped with gates. However, the circumstances leading to the train’s presence on the track remain unclear.
