At least four people died in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in a serious train accident at the beginning of the Whitsun holidays in Bavaria.
According to the police, around 30 people were injured, 15 of them were taken to hospitals.
A regional express derailed in the popular Upper Bavarian holiday region on the way from Garmisch to Munich on Friday, wagons overturned.
It cannot be ruled out that there were many students on the train around lunchtime and thus at the end of school.
Three of the at least four fatalities had yet to be recovered.
These victims were still under an overturned wagon, Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) reported on Friday afternoon at the scene of the accident.
"As long as the railway carriage is not raised, we cannot rule out that there are more dead underneath," he said.
In the evening, the interior minister said on BR television that around a dozen people were still missing.
"We are also a bit concerned that we still have twelve missing persons reports that have not yet been finally processed." It could be that missing persons are already in the clinics.
Some are so badly injured that the identity of the patients has not yet been clarified.
He hopes that the police can process these missing persons cases at night.
So far, it has been confirmed that a fourth person died on the way to the hospital.
According to the authorities, there were about 140 passengers on the regional train.
The passengers were rescued from the train within about three quarters of an hour to a maximum of one hour.
Around 500 rescuers were on site.
Twelve rescue helicopters were now circling over the area.
Witness reports: "Suddenly the train overturned"
The train derailed in the district of Burgrain in the Loisachauen, said a spokesman for the federal police.
The cause of the accident remained unclear.
All ages were among the injured, including children.
The dimension of the accident cannot yet be estimated at all.
The accident happened at around 12:15 p.m. – at the end of school, when many children are on their way home.
The Pentecost holidays in Bavaria begin on Saturday.
Fire brigade, emergency doctors and police were on site with a large contingent.
People were pulled through the windows, the federal police spokesman said.
"A full alarm was triggered for the fire brigade and rescue service," said a spokesman for the integrated control center in the Oberland.
Numerous rescue teams also arrived from Munich.
An American soldier was in one of the cars on the street next to the railway line and told his impressions of the "Garmisch-Partenkirchner Tagblatt": "It was terrible," he said.
"Just awful.
Suddenly the train overturned.”
Federal Minister of the Interior Faeser on the way to the scene of the accident
In a joint press statement on Friday evening, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) and Bahn boss Richard Lutz expressed their condolences to the victims and their families.
Wissing said that Federal Interior Minister Faeser was on her way to the scene of the accident on behalf of the federal government and would arrive there in the evening.
Wissing himself would have liked to see for himself on site.
However, he was informed that the "Berlin region can no longer be flown to by helicopter today because an extreme weather event is taking place," said the minister.
He will go to Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Saturday together with Bahnchef Lutz.
When asked about the cause of the accident, Lutz said: "Today is not the day to speculate about the causes of the accident.
Today is the day we should be with the people
Deutsche Bahn set up a hotline for relatives.
"No statement can be made about the causes of the accident at this time," it said in a statement.
The train blocked the route between Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Oberau.
Trains from Munich turn early in Oberau.
From the Mittenwald direction, the trains turn around early in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Replacement traffic is being planned, it said on Twitter.
It was unclear whether the regional train was exceptionally full because of the new 9-euro ticket.
For the region on the border with Austria, the accident just before the holidays is also a disaster in terms of traffic.
Federal roads 2 and 23, which run close to the railway lines, were completely closed.
"We can't let the traffic run in the direction of Garmisch-Partenkirchen at the moment because the rescue workers are on the road," said a police spokesman.
Because of the beginning of the Pentecost holidays in Bavaria, long traffic jams are to be expected on the route.