One person died in a train accident in Voorschoten, reports Security Region Hollands Midden. Nineteen people have been taken to hospital. The passenger train derailed at around 3:45 p.m. from Monday to Tuesday. The train is believed to have collided with construction equipment on the track.

A security area spokesman could not say how many were seriously injured. Twenty people were treated at the scene. They had minor injuries. Earlier, the security area reported that several were seriously injured. According to Omroep West, a number of injured victims were in apprehensive condition.

Emergency services were in full swing after the NS train derailed between Leiden and The Hague. According to the security area, experts are working to secure the train. Due to the accident, a makeshift hospital is operating, a spokesperson for UMC Utrecht reports. The hospital is opened in case of a major accident or calamity.

Uncertainty about the cause of the accident

It remains unclear how the train accident happened. The Hollands Midden Safety Region initially reported a collision with a freight train, but later stated that construction equipment on the track may have been the cause of the crash. ProRail indicated that cranes were involved in the crash, but it remains unclear what role this crane played in causing it. It would be a contractor’s construction crane, which, according to a reporter, was tilted on a track at the site.

Some of the trains end in the meadow, some in the middle on the tracks and some on the side. The part still on the track was badly damaged. A fire broke out at the back of the train after the crash.

According to regional safety spokesman Hollands Midden, construction equipment on the track may have contributed to the crash. “Emergency services were quickly on the scene,” said a spokesperson for NS, speaking of a major crash. “Our first concern is the people on the train, the passengers and our colleagues.”

There were about fifty passengers on the derailed overnight train en route from Leiden to The Hague early Tuesday, an NS spokesman said.

Black Day

Nadine Stemerdink, mayor of Voorschoten, called the fatal train crash “deeply tragic”. “I sympathize with the victims. My thoughts go out to all the family and friends of the people involved in this,” the mayor said in a statement shared by Security Region Hollands Midden.

ProRail top man John Voppen spoke of a “black day for Dutch railways” due to the train crash at Voorschoten on Tuesday morning. “My thoughts go out to everyone involved.”

No rail traffic

There will be no trains to and from Leiden Central until at least 4pm on Tuesday, NS reported. Tourists are advised to take the The Hague tram.

Since there are no trains running between Leiden and The Hague, trains between Rotterdam Central and Schiphol Airport will be busier, NS warned. Travelers on this route may have to deal with longer travel times.