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1 person dead after train hits crane on Dutch crossing

A commuter train has derailed after slamming into a crane crossing the tracks in the Netherlands, killing the train’s driver and injuring seven passengers.

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Mayor Han Noten told Dutch radio station NOS that one person had died.

Photographs on Dutch news websites showed the aftermath of the collision in which the train appears to have been thrown on its side and into a field.

“In the rush hour, this train would have been totally full”, he said.

Rene Vegter, a spokesman for Prorail, the company that manages Dutch railways, said the incident occurred at around 9am. Investigators were heading to the scene to establish the exact cause of the crash.

Dalfsen mayor Hans Noten said the train was nearly empty.

He added separately that about 10 people had been injured, but none of them was in a life-threatening condition. Residents said when the train ran into it, the crane was crossing the line, east of the town of Zwolle.

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Reports indicated the train’s conductor may have been among those dead.

Emergency services look for evidence at the wreck of commuter train which derailed near Dalfsen Netherlands Tuesday Feb. 23 2016. The train derailed after slamming into a crane which was crossing the tracks early Tuesday in the eastern Netherlands