Berlin: Large fire destroys passenger train, cause unclear

Rail investigators are looking into the cause of a blaze that engulfed a three-carriage train on the outskirts of Berlin. The blaze began while several passengers were still onboard.

An investigation was underway on Sunday after a passenger train was engulfed in a large fire while stopped at a station on the outskirts of Berlin overnight. Five passengers still on board had to exit the train but were unharmed.

The fire department was initially unable to say where and why the fire on Saturday evening had started on the diesel-powered train.

What do we know about the fire?

Firefighters were called to the Ahrensfelde station on the border between Berlin and Brandenburg after the alarm was raised at about 9:50 p.m. local time.

The three-carriage train had been due to start its next trip to the town of Werneuchen when the train driver heard a bang.

Smoke appeared and flames were seen, prompting the driver and a female attendant to evacuate the train's five passengers.

The fire department extinguished the flames — which by then had engulfed all three cars — and no one was injured, a spokesman said. The train sustained major damage. 

A spokeswoman for German train operator Deutsche Bahn said the train was operated by the private company Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn (NEB).

The NEB, which runs the RB25 line between Berlin-Ostkreuz and Werneuchen, did not initially comment.

The train station was closed between 10 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. amid the firefighting operation, before other tracks opened up to allow rail traffic to resume.

Germany's Federal Police, whose responsibilities include the rail network, also said the cause of the fire was unknown and that the preliminary investigation had yielded no clues.

The Federal Bureau of Railway Accident Investigation is set to examine the train before it can be transported away.

rc/msh (AFP, dpa)