Dead, missing, dozens injured: One day after the serious train accident in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the emergency services are still looking for missing people and are struggling with the pitfalls of a difficult rescue.

The police spoke on Saturday of a "single-digit number" missing.

According to the information, three of the four deaths confirmed so far have not yet been recovered.

It can also not be ruled out that there could be other victims under the overturned wagons.

The rescue workers assume 40 injured and three seriously injured.

A police spokesman said at the scene of the accident.

The day before, there had been talk of around 15 seriously injured people.

The salvage work was difficult.

Two attempts to lift the wagons failed.

Lifting bags were also used.

The wagons were "twisted and twisted," said the police spokesman.

"That makes the rescue so difficult." A heavy recovery crane, which can lift up to 120 tons and was expected at the scene of the accident in the morning, should help.

"You have to go step by step," said the spokesman.

Causes still unknown

There was initially no new information about the cause of the accident on Saturday.

According to the police, the train driver was questioned.

However, the police did not say what he said.

So far, the only certainty is that a collision with another vehicle can be ruled out.

"We are investigating in all directions," said the spokesman.

Bavaria's Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter (CSU) told Bayerischer Rundfunk on Friday evening that he suspected a technical cause.

According to a railway spokesman, the route was equipped with electronic interlockings and modern safety technology.

On Friday afternoon, several regional train wagons derailed on the way to Munich in the Burgrain district.

Several of the train's double-decker cars overturned, slid down an embankment and ended up lying next to a main road.

At least four of the approximately 140 people on the train died, and children were among the injured.

Some of the victims suffered serious injuries and required emergency surgery.

It was one of the worst rail accidents in Germany in recent years.

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier reacted "with great dismay": "My thoughts are with the injured and all their families in these difficult hours," he said, according to a statement.

"I would like to thank all police and rescue workers for their tireless and important work."

The district office in Garmisch-Partenkirchen announced that by the end of the salvage work, car traffic in the region will probably also be affected by disabilities in the middle of next week.

Traffic from Autobahn 95 is to continue to be diverted on a large scale, with the highway remaining closed to the south.