Train crashes into fallen tree amid gusty winds in Poland

A passenger train on Thursday collided with a fallen tree in Poland’s northwestern Zachodniopomorskie province, as powerful winds blew across the region, the state PAP news agency reported.

Fallen tree branches in the aftermath of strong winds in Wrocław, southwestern Poland, on Thursday.

Photo: PAP/Aleksander Koźmiński

The train had been travelling between the cities of Szczecin and Kołobrzeg when it hit a tree near the town of Gryfice, a spokesman for the Polish State Railways (PKP), told the news agency. 

The local fire service said the side window panes and the front part of the train had been damaged, while three of its 76 passengers sustained injuries.

Trees fell onto railway tracks also in the western provinces of Wielkopolskie, Dolnośląskie, Opolskie and Lubuskie, on a total of 13 occasions by 2 p.m. on Thursday, PKP announced, adding that maintenance crews were clearing the tracks.

Poland's weather agency warned that strong winds would blow at 100 kilometres per hour in the country's western regions, and at 110 kph in the coastal zone, until Friday morning.

(pm/gs)

Source: PAP