Denmark accident kills six train riders

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Six passengers were killed Wednesday when a Danish train crossed a bridge that had been closed to cars because of high wind, and authorities investigated whether falling cargo from a passing freight train caused Denmark’s deadliest railway accident in 30 years.

The rail operator, Danish Railways, told Denmark’s TV2 the victims were passengers on a train going from the city of Odense, on the central Danish island of Funen, to the capital, Copenhagen, when the accident took place about 8 a.m.

The accident, in which 16 people were injured, took place on a road-and-rail bridge, part of the Storebaelt system of bridges and a tunnel that link the Danish islands of Zealand and Funen. The system was closed to cars overnight because of strong wind, but trains were allowed to continue using it.

Police spokesman Lars Braemhoej said one possible cause of the “considerable damage” on the passenger train was getting struck by cargo from the freight train but noted that authorities “do not know precisely what caused the accident.”

Flemming Jensen, the chief executive of state-owned Danish Railways, said police and the country’s accident investigation board were looking into the accident. He said the operator “will contribute everything that we can to the investigation.”

AP/TIM K. JENSEN People walk near the damaged cargo compartments of a freight train parked Wednesday near a bridge outside Nyborg, Denmark.