A double tragedy struck Germany after two young boys were hit and dragged by a train, killing one and injuring the other.
The youngsters, ages 9 and 10, were dragged by a freight train for several hundred metres in the western German town of Recklinghausen, in the Ruhr industrial region, on Thursday evening.
The incident happened around 6:12 pm and the unnamed 10-year-old boy died.
Local media said another nine-year-old suffered serious injuries and was taken to a hospital, but he is no longer in acute danger.
According to a police spokesman, both boys are from the town of Recklinghausen and they also confirmed several other young people were involved in the accident but did not give further details.
Details over the incident are scant, however, local media said around of 35 firemen and rescue workers were deployed to the accident site, near a former freight yard.
Herbert Reul, interior minister of the North Rhine-Westphalia, told the press: "It's horrible. Children and trains and at such a young age, it's just horrible what happened here and one can only hope the parents will have the strength to overcome this great misfortune.
"Why, how come, these are all questions that no one can yet answer and wouldn't solve anything."
In June, five people were killed and 44 others injured after a train derailed in southern Germany.
Emergency workers found bodies under the rubble of the train as cranes hoisted at least one carriage which had rolled off the tracks.
The regional train was northbound to Munich when the accident happened, derailing near Garmisch-Partenkirchen close to the Loisachauen industrial park. Several carriages overturned and some fell down the embankment.
According to Tagblatt, there were numerous students aboard when the train derailed near the popular ski resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
The horror crash comes only days after Germany launched a new discounted rail ticket to encourage its citizens to take the train and it was said the train was "very crowded and many people were using it, hence the high number of injured".
