German police are probing whether railway employees should be criminally charged after air- conditioning systems on three high-speed trains failed in the midst of a weekend heat wave, in one case leading passengers to collapse, dpa reported.
A police spokeswoman in the western town of Sankt Augustin said Sunday that suspicions of negligent bodily harm and failure to assist a person in danger were being investigated.
A high-speed ICE train had been stopped in the nearby city of Bielefeld on Saturday, after several elderly passengers and students returning from a school trip to the capital Berlin suffered heat stroke and dehydration, some of them collapsing onto the floor.
Temperatures in the train carriages had reached 40 to 50 degrees Celsius, other passengers said. One distraught mother reportedly attempted to break a window to let in some fresh air. The windows in the modern trains are designed so that passengers cannot open them.
Nine youths were taken to the hospital after the train was stopped in Bielefeld, while others were treated at the scene with infusions. A total of 27 students received medical attention.
The head of the Deutsche Bahn, Germany's national railway company, apologized for the incident on Sunday during telephone calls to students and teachers. Those affected were offered compensation.
Railway personnel had been aware of the defect air-conditioning system before the train reached Bielefeld, the police spokeswoman said. A witness reported that he flagged down a staff member aboard the train after noticing a strong smell of burning rubber.
The employee then reportedly noticed that the air-conditioning system no longer worked, but the train nevertheless continued on its way, the spokeswoman said.
A Deutsche Bahn spokesperson said that a total of three overheated trains were taken out of service on Saturday. The company blamed technical problems for the air-conditioning failures.