In the Swiss canton of Bern, two regional trains derailed in stormy weather on Friday. Several people were injured. According to the police, the regional trains both derailed on Friday afternoon just 40 kilometers apart north of the capital Bern.
The first incident happened around 4:30 p.m. between Luscherz and Biel, the second about twenty minutes later near Büren zum Hof, a spokeswoman for the cantonal police in Bern told the AFP news agency. At least one seriously injured person was among the injured in the train accident in Büren zum Hof, according to the Swiss news agency SDA on Twitter.
The transport company Aare Seeland Mobil reported on its website that its train derailed near Lüscherz due to a storm. After the incident at Büren zum Hof, the company Regionalverkehr Bern-Solothurn also informed of a route failure due to a storm. The police did not provide any information about the causes of the two accidents.
Rail traffic in Germany was also affected by the storm “Markus” over western Europe. A regional train on the Höllentalbahn drove into a burning tree that had fallen on the overhead line. After an emergency stop near Friedenweiler (Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district), the engine driver was able to extinguish the fire on the tree and prevent the flames from spreading to the train, as a spokeswoman for the federal police said. The train was evacuated, the train driver and a woman suffered minor injuries.
The German Weather Service (DWD) had warned of continuous rain, thunderstorms and storms for the south-west on Friday. Even the weekend offers little reason for spring fever, only Monday will be friendlier again. And in the nights there is a risk of frost at the beginning of the week.
In France, a man was killed by a tree at a rest area in the Vosges while stopping in a car park, broadcaster France Info reported. Attempts to revive the young man failed.
8,500 households were without electricity after the storm on Friday in the north-west of the country, as the energy supplier Enedis announced. The weather service Météo France warned of severe gusts of wind, especially for the north of the country. Gusts of up to 120 kilometers per hour were measured in the English Channel area. In several places, the fire brigade had to move out because of fallen trees and torn off roofs. The turbulent weather with lots of precipitation is expected to continue on Saturday.