Two local trains collided head-on near Hillerød, north of Copenhagen, on Thursday morning, injuring 17 people, authorities said. Five of the injured were described as being in critical condition.
Police said they received alerts at about 6:30 a.m. (0430 GMT) and deployed large numbers of officers and emergency crews to the scene. “We can’t provide any details for now about the cause of the accident,” police official Morten Kaare Pedersen told reporters, and investigators had not immediately determined what led to the collision.
A Greater Copenhagen fire department spokesperson said everyone had been evacuated from the trains and that no one was trapped, though there were injuries among passengers. Police characterized the incident as a “serious accident” and rescue teams remained on site.
Denmark generally prides itself on a safe transport system, but the country has experienced notable rail incidents in recent years. In 2019 a crash killed eight people and injured 16. In August of last year, a train struck a slurry tanker and derailed in southern Denmark near the German border, killing one person and injuring 27.