A Murtalbahn train derailed on Friday at 07:05 in Salzburg.
 
The triebwagen collided with a fallen tree lying on the tracks and fell over the embankment into the Mur River where it rested on its side in the water.
 
Two trailing cars stopped on the rails.
 
According to the Red Cross, 17 people were injured, nine of whom had to be hospitalized.
 
Some onlookers marched through the still wet meadow near the river in Kendlbruck to see the crashed railroad car.
 
"God, there were many kids who were on the train today on school day. They had a lot of guardian angels," says a local who was out with his German shepherd.
 
On the side of the river, at the point where the railroad car derailed and crashed, emergency services gathered after rescuing slightly more than 60 passengers, most of them children.

Location of the Accident
 
Reports showed that the first of the three railroad cars hit a huge tree trunk shortly after seven o'clock in the morning, at a slight right-hand bend.
 
Apparently it fell from the adjacent steep embankment onto the tracks after a heavy night thunderstorm.
 
Clearly, the driver couldn't brake in time, said Philipp Santner, Tamsweg's disaster response officer.
 
The car, along with the driver and the children, fell into about three metres of water.
 
"There were a total of 53 school children and a driver in the train car.
 
Luckily, everyone was calm and careful in this panic situation.
 
The kids helped each other get out of the water and ashore," the disaster management said.
 
As a precaution, lifeguards and firefighters searched the river to make sure no passengers on the wrecked train were in the water.
 
It turned out that everyone had managed to reach the bank and no one was missing.

Tamsweg firefighters and lifeguards at the scene of the accident - Date? Photographer?

Meanwhile, a major rescue and restoration operation by the Fire Department, the Red Cross, Mountain and Water Rescue, had already begun.
 
About 140 helpers, including emergency doctors, rushed to the scene of the accident, which is difficult to access.
 
Hubert Bacher, District Rescue Commander of the Red Cross in Murau, said, "We cared for a total of more than 60 people, including some parents. Nine children were taken to hospital, one was taken by emergency helicopter to Schwarzach Hospital for further investigation. The mission worked perfectly."
 
Unless injured, all the children were taken to a nearby hospital, or taken to the fire station in Predlitz, Styria, where they continued to be cared for, and then released to their parents.
 
The cause of the accident seems to be explained by a thunderstorm weakening trees that fell in the area.

The car derailed in Ramingstein - Date? Photographer?

State Criminal Police experts accurately measured and examine the scene of the accident.
 
A little further away, a local resident said, "The Murtalbahn is affected by every major storm. Then the train has to be stopped and buses run."
 
Now the route between Murau and Tamsweg remains closed indefinitely.
 
In order to recover the wrecked triebwagen from the Mur River, a special crane was requested during the day.
 
Stefan Schnöll, the Salzburg State Transport Authority in Ramingstein, announced an on-site inspection in the afternoon to get a clear picture of the accident's cause.
 
Author unknown.

The triebwagen resting in the River Mur - Date? Photographer?