No injuries reported after the train accident in Bergen – warns of possible gas leak

Cargoseskapet Onrail confirms to NRK that it was their train that derailed at Arna station.

General manager Henning Aandahl of Onrail tells NRK that one person mans such trains.

– We had one person involved. The person is not seriously physically injured after the accident, says Aandahl.

West police district reported the accident at 19.25.

– I heard a long and loud rumbling sound, opened the terrace door, saw lots of smoke and the smell of gunpowder, says neighbor and eyewitness Jørgen Kvamme to NRK.

He first thought it was lightning outside when he saw a blue light, but afterwards he believes the light came from the power line that was torn down.

– It is a freight train that has derailed, lost a container and tore the contact wire with it on its way into Arna station, Bane Nor’s press contact Anne Kirkhusmo tells NTB.

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25 wagons

Operations manager Helge Blindheim in the police tells NTB that they were notified of the accident at 7.15pm.

– Several wagons have overturned. We do not have an overview and do not yet know whether there are any injuries in connection with the incident, he says.

He says that the freight train has a total of 25 carriages.

– It appears to be a serious accident, says operations manager Blindheim to BA.

There is a complete stop for all train traffic to and from Bergen station for the rest of the day, says Kirkhusmo.

– Like in slow motion

Oddvar Almelid was standing on the platform at Arna station waiting for his wife, who was on the train from Oslo.

– Then a freight train from Bergen came past, on the track south of the station. It would probably cross with the passenger train from Oslo at Trengereid. Suddenly I heard cutting sounds, says Almelid to Bergens Tidende.

The derailment occurred outside a 2.2 kilometer long tunnel, according to BT.

– As in slow motion, I see the train derailing. The first wagons tip over on their side. One cart is left 45 degrees up in the air, another 90 degrees.

Almelelid further says that a mast was torn down and took the catenary with it.