A good week after the train accident near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria is celebrating a day of mourning: people laid flowers at the scene of the accident on Saturday.

Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) ordered mourning flags for all state buildings in the Free State.

For the late afternoon, the two major Christian churches had invited to an ecumenical funeral service in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

The archbishop of Munich and Freising, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, and the evangelical regional bishop Christian Kopp wanted to organize the service in the parish church Maria Himmelfahrt Partenkirchen together.

Relatives and friends of the victims, survivors of the accident as well as rescue and aid workers wanted to commemorate those who died.

Prayers also in Ukrainian

Representatives of the state government and the railways were also expected.

According to the ministry, Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) should take part on behalf of Prime Minister Markus Söder.

Four women and a 13-year-old from the Garmisch-Partenkirchen area died in the accident on Friday last week in the Burgrain district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

More than 40 people were injured, several seriously.

One woman was last still in critical condition.

At the service, prayers should also be recited in Ukrainian.

Because among the dead are two 30 and 39-year-old mothers from Ukraine who had fled the war with their children.

In addition to the 13-year-old, a 51-year-old from Wiesbaden and a 70-year-old woman from the Munich district died.

Accident site not yet fully released

The regional train from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Munich derailed around noon shortly after departure.

On the last day before the Pentecost holidays, it was also occupied by many students.

The police registered around 140 passengers.

Even a week after the accident, the scene of the accident has not yet been fully released.

According to the police, investigations and investigations are continuing south of the scene of the accident.

North of the scene of the accident, Deutsche Bahn has meanwhile begun preparing to salvage the locomotive and one of the last wagons;

this section was declassified by investigators.

The parts of the train were the last to stop.

The tracks have to be repaired before they can be salvaged with a rail crane.

These measures alone should take a few days.

It is unclear when the route will be open to traffic again

The almost 50 employees of the police Soko "Zug" continue to work on clarifying the cause of the accident.

Railway employees and passengers are questioned as witnesses.

Investigators have already spoken to dozens of passengers.

The public prosecutor's office is investigating an initial suspicion of negligent homicide against three Deutsche Bahn employees.

When looking for the cause, the focus is on a technical defect.

The chassis of the wagons that had already been recovered were secured, as were parts of rails and other track components.

Special attention is paid to this.

It is unclear when trains will be able to run again on the route.

There has been speculation that this could drag on until after the G7 summit at the end of June.

However, the railway emphasized that a forecast on this is not yet possible.

The G7 summit, chaired by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), is planned for June 26-28 at Elmau Castle near Garmisch-Partenkirchen.