100 Injured in Train Crash Northwestern Slovakia (Photos)

Up to 100 were injured when a locomotive hit a stopped passenger train in Slovakia on Friday, police announced on Saturday.

Around 59 people were mildly injured, 11 sustained moderate injuries, and four severe injuries, the Slovak police noted in a statement posted on social media, adding that 34 people were transferred to nearby hospitals.

The police pointed out that the cause of the accident was under investigation.

There were around 100 people on the train at the time of the accident, which occurred near the town of Vrutky in the northwestern part of the country.

Reports revealed that the train stopped due to a defect and was hit by a locomotive that was coming to its aid.

Police called on drivers to avoid the vicinity of the accident site in the northern Slovak municipality of Strecno.

The site is close to an important railway junction where lines from the country's interior to Bratislava meet those to the neighboring Czech Republic.

A similar accident took place on Friday in southern Germany when a regional train derailed near Garmisch, leaving four people dead and dozens injured.

A local official told Germany’s DPA news agency that at least 60 people were injured, around 16 of them seriously.

“There is a large operation currently underway,” said a police spokesperson who added that the train was quite full at the time of the crash.

Media outlets did not indicate what caused the train traveling toward Munich to derail at about 12:20 local time (10:20 UTC).