Ice rubs 18-year-old coburg man to death

The upper railroad crossing in creidlitz is intended only for pedestrians. "Also watch out for trains coming from the other direction" it is written on small signs on the barriers of circulation. This is a consequence of a fatal accident almost ten years ago, when a 50-year-old man wanted to cross the two tracks at this point in the direction of creidlitz. He had been waiting for the regional express from lichtenfels and then started running – he overlooked the regional train coming from coburg.

This time, too, the train approached from coburg: ICE 1503 was on its way to munich shortly after 7 a.M. After stopping in coburg. 90 kilometers per hour are permitted for trains on this section of track. The 18-year-old from coburg, who at that moment wanted to cross the tracks coming from creidlitz to get to work, apparently did not see and hear him.

Was he distracted?

Firefighters later reported that the locomotive driver had said the young man had a "stopsel carried in the ears. The locomotive driver still honked, but to no avail. Even the emergency braking did not save the 18-year-old: he was hit by the power car of the ICE and thrown into the neighboring track. The locomotive driver suffered a shock.

At 7.4 p.M. The fire department received the – in this case not quite accurate – emergency call: "person under train". The rescue services were also alerted. The emergency doctor, however, could only determine the death of the young man. The firefighters were left with the task of helping the 150 or so passengers out of the ICE train, which had come to a stop a few meters after the train had crossed the tracks. With the help of a platform from the fire truck, the passengers were able to leave the train. According to a railroad spokesman, they were taken by bus to bamberg.

Cause unclear

The prosecutor ordered that an expert be called in to clear the accident. Whether the young man was actually wearing headphones or otherwise distracted by his cell phone, the police could not confirm on tuesday. The railroad line itself remained unaffected until about 10.30 o'clock closed for train traffic. Several regional and regional express trains were stuck in coburg station. The media were informed at 9.37 o'clock that there had been an accident on the double-track line. At this point, the police assumed that it was an accident and not a suicide.

At this time the body of the accident victim had already been taken away. The experts were still at work, the creidlitz fire department was then given the task of hosing down the train and the tracks with water.

Whether the railroad overpass will be preserved is a question that no one could or would answer on tuesday. The city of coburg pointed out that the railroad would have to initiate a so-called de-designation procedure if the railroad crossing was to be given up. A railroad spokesman, in turn, said that such transitions can be eliminated only with the consent of all parties involved – including the city.