Train Collision Claims Two Lives

Two people died Thursday and 33 others injured after two passenger trains collided near the southern German city of Immenstadt. Officials say that at least nine of the injured are in serious condition.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the accident, although German rail spokesman Reiner Latsch said sabotage was not suspected. He declined to comment on whether snow or mechanical failure might have played a role.

Police said the last car of the InterCity train bound for Dortmund in northwestern Germany derailed first, and was struck by a local train traveling on an adjacent track toward the ski resort town of Oberstdorf.

The locomotive of the local train tipped over and all seven-passenger cars derailed.

Police said the next-to-last car of the InterCity tipped over about 325 feet farther down the track, but the rest of the train was undamaged.

It was the first fatal train accident in Germany since an InterCity Express derailed in the northern town of Eschede last June, killing 101 passengers. Investigators determined that a broken wheel caused crash.