A collision between a EuroCity train and a local bus near Nove Zamky, Slovakia, left seven people dead and five injured on Thursday, June 27, 2024. The accident occurred shortly after 5 p.m. local time as the train was traveling from Prague, Czech Republic, to Budapest, Hungary. According to Slovakia’s rescue service and the Slovak railway company ZSSK, none of the deceased were aboard the train, which had approximately 200 passengers. All those who lost their lives were passengers on the bus, which had nine passengers, stated the Slovak ambulance service

Video footage showed the train’s engine engulfed in flames, while the bus was split into two parts due to the impact. Slovakia’s Interior Minister Matus Sutai Estok visited the scene and confirmed that the victims had not yet been identified.

The train track linking Bratislava, Slovakia’s capital, with Budapest was expected to remain closed until at least 4 a.m. on Friday to allow for investigations and repairs. Passengers stranded aboard the train were transported by buses to the town of Sturovo on the Hungarian border.

Rescue efforts were complicated by the closure of the local hospital, which had been flooded following heavy rains the previous night. The injured were therefore taken to hospitals in nearby towns and cities. The driver of the train, a Czech national, sustained light burns, while the bus driver survived the crash.

Slovakia’s transport minister, Jozef Ráž, mentioned that heavy rains had hit the area the day before, causing the closure of the railroad track to all traffic. Ráž stated, “It was likely an individual human error that caused the train to appear on a track where it wasn’t supposed to be.”

Slovakia’s President Peter Pellegrini, who was attending a summit of European Union leaders in Brussels at the time, extended his condolences to the families of the deceased. “I wish the injured a speedy recovery and thank the doctors and rescue teams for their work done. I wish that such catastrophes would spare Slovakia in the future,” Pellegrini said.

In response to the incident, local authorities and railway officials are conducting a thorough investigation to determine the exact cause of the collision. The crossing where the accident occurred is protected by gates, but the reasons why the train ended up on the track remain unclear.