Six seriously injured after passenger and freight train collide as local helped rescue trapped travellers using forklift

SIX people have been seriously injured after two trains collided in a horror crash. A freight train and a passenger train smashed into each other between Sveti Ivan Žabno and Gradec stations in Croatia. A freight train and a passenger train have collided in Croatia Credit: Alamy Locals reportedly used a forklift to free trapped passengers Credit: Alamy The Ministry of Health said six passengers suffered serious injuries, while a further 13 people are believed to have been left with minor injuries. Emergency services rushed to the scene shortly after 10am, treating the injured before taking them to hospitals in Bjelovar and Koprivnica. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Some of the casualties were later transferred to hospitals in Zagreb. The most seriously injured is a young woman who is currently in intensive care, but remains in a stable condition. All the victims were rushed to nearby hospitals Credit: X The cause of the crash currently remains unknown Credit: X There were 27 passengers aboard the passenger train when the collision happened. All those caught up in the horror crash have since been pulled from the wreckage. Koprivnica-Križevci County Prefect Tomislav Golubić praised emergency crews for their rapid response. “I must give special thanks to the fire departments in Križevci and Đurđevac, as well as all the volunteer firefighters from the Sveti Ivan area who contributed 50 firefighters to the rescue effort,” he said. Most read in The Sun “I would especially like to thank a local man for arriving first at the scene with his personal forklift, making it easier for emergency services to tend to the injured.” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Croatian Veterans Tomo Medved later arrived at the scene and also thanked emergency services for their rapid response. The cause of the crash remains unclear. Preliminary information suggests a technical failure or human error could have caused the two trains to collide, Medved said. An investigation is now underway to establish exactly what happened. Križevci is a city in Koprivnica-Križevci County, in northwestern Croatia. This comes only days after a train smashed into a hay-filled trailer after an intoxicated farmer stopped on a level crossing. Astonishing footage showed bales of hay thrown into the air as the train collides with the trailer at high speed. The incident occurred around midday on August 3 at a railway crossing in Tczew County, in the north of Poland. It is understood 500 people were on the train at the time of the crash. One passenger said: “I was sitting in the first carriage, and the impact was felt strongly.” Local media reported the driver, a 67- year-old man, is likely to face criminal charges. Comment now