German Train Crash Occurred in 1998
The Claim
Two trains collided head-on, causing an accident and killing 300 people in Germany.
News posted on
Emerging story
Posts widely circulating online claiming that another train accident occurred (referring to the train accident that recently occurred in Egypt). The claims state that two trains collided head-on in Germany, killing 300 people. Circulation of the posts began on 28 March and continues to spread. The posts questioned how there was no broadcasting or reporting of the news and shared an accompanying image.
Misbar’s Analysis
The Misbar investigation found this claim to be misleading. A Google image reverse found the image to be from a well-known German train accident dubbed the Eschede Derailment. Although this is a genuine accident, it occurred on June 3, 1998. Furthermore, the accident was not a head-on collision of two trains but a high-speed train that became derailed and crashed into a road bridge.
Germany's train accident left 101 dead and 105 injured and not 300 as mentioned in the claims. In 2018, DW wrote an article titled “ Eschede: Germany's worst train disaster remembered 20 years on,” which shared the same image circulating in the claims.
There is also a Wikipedia entry giving details of the incident. A video uploaded in 2013 also shows footage of the accident here, with German commentary. Given the findings, the Misbar team can confirm that the claims are misleading and this accident occurred 23 years, and that is why there are no current reports on it.
