ICE door opened at speed of 200 km/h: Federal Police seek perpetrator in Lower Franconia
Following the dangerous incident on ICE 528 near Karlstadt, federal police are investigating on suspicion of sabotage. Both Deutsche Bahn and investigators have ruled out a technical fault.
Suspicion of sabotage: emergency release mechanism on ICE damaged
As Google News AT — Crime (de) reports, federal police are searching for a perpetrator who opened a train door on ICE 528 during travel at approximately 200 km/h. The emergency release mechanism was damaged in the process, a Federal Police spokesperson said. Investigators have now ruled out a technical fault — Deutsche Bahn had previously denied a technical malfunction.
Whether the emergency aid device was damaged deliberately or accidentally remains unclear according to federal police. There is currently no "concrete suspect".
The train driver stopped the train on the Munich–Dortmund route on Tuesday evening after a door opened in the rear part of the train. The ICE came to a halt at the entrance portal of a tunnel near Karlstadt in Main-Spessart district. On board were 238 passengers and eight Deutsche Bahn employees. No one was injured.
Police assume that after the incident, no one left the train or fell out. A search conducted the following day in daylight for persons and luggage yielded "no result" according to the spokesperson. No one is reported missing.
That same night, officers recorded the personal details of approximately 120 passengers who had been seated in the rear part of the train and questioned them about their observations. Only these passengers can be considered as possible witnesses or suspects: the two train sections were coupled together but not connected by a passageway — transfer between the sections was not possible during travel.
Source: Google News AT — Crime (de)