The collision occurred in the village of Sokolniki Suche, near Przysucha in the Mazovia region, when a truck entered the crossing as an Intercity train traveling from Lublin to Szczecin approached. The crossing had functioning traffic signals, according to rail infrastructure manager PKP PLK. The impact derailed the locomotive and three of the train's six cars, fire officials in Przysucha told Polish Radio 24. Train traffic on the Radom-Poznań line was halted as a result.
Roughly 105 passengers were aboard the train at the time, along with one person riding in the truck. Fire service spokesman Łukasz Darmofalski told Polish Radio that the train's engineer, the truck driver, and at least two train passengers were hurt in the crash. Of those aboard, about 90 were initially found not to need medical treatment, while more than a dozen others were still being assessed, he said.
"The train hit a truck. The driver of that vehicle and the train's engineer were injured in the collision, along with at least two people from the train", Darmofalski said.
Four people, including the engineer and the truck driver, suffered the most serious injuries; two women were also among those seriously hurt, officials said. In all, seven people were hospitalised in Radom, Opoczno and Kielce, with one flown by medical helicopter, air rescue service spokeswoman Justyna Sochacka told the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
One of the critically injured later died, fire service official Karolina Jaworska confirmed to PAP shortly before 2 p.m.
"One person seriously injured in the collision between a long-distance train and a truck in Sokolniki Suche has died", she said, adding that the victim was among the four most severely hurt and that the rest of the injured were passengers.
Authorities have not said why the truck moved onto the tracks in front of the oncoming train; a prosecutor has been assigned to investigate.
PKP Intercity said it arranged replacement transport for stranded passengers and agreed to honor its tickets on regional carriers ŁKA and Polregio along affected routes. Emergency crews remained at the scene securing the area.
Speaking on the sidelines of a press conference, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the crash "another case of a disaster at a railway crossing" and said his government "must immediately begin work on radically tightening regulations for those who violate them".
(jh)
Source: Polish Radio, PAP