Operations manager Bjarte Rebnor in the West police district tells NTB.
– We have been clarified that there is nothing harmful to people in connection with the accident, says Rebnor.
It was at 20.26 that an emergency warning was sent out about a possible gas leak as a result of the train accident.
The public who were in the open air were asked to stay 500 meters away from the train station until further notice.
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The emergency services have responded to a train accident at Arna station. Photo: Paul S. Amundsen / NTB
– One person involved
It was at 19.25 that the police reported a train accident at Arna station in Bergen. It was unclear for a long time whether anyone was injured or what the circumstances surrounding the accident were. Cargoseskapet Onrail confirms to NRK that it was their train that derailed at Arna station.
– We had one person involved. The person is not seriously physically injured after the accident, says general manager Henning Aandahl of Onrail.
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Later in the evening, he tells the same channel that it was the locomotive on the freight train that derailed. This must have created an “accordion effect” on the rest of the train.
– It is a freight train that has derailed, lost a container and tore the contact wire with it on its way into Arna station, says press contact Anne Kirkhusmo at Bane Nor to NTB.
The incident has led to a halt to all train traffic to and from Bergen station for the rest of the day
– 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.
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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.
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– 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.
