[Facts regarding the Eschede catastrophe]

On 3 June 1998 a high-speed train (Inter City Express, ICE) collided with a bridge at a speed of 200 km/h. The bridge collapsed and the rear wagons of the train were pushed into it with the power of the rear engine. The accident caused 101 deaths and 103 injuries. Four minutes after the accident the alarm was raised, and 16 minutes after the accident the first doctor was on the scene, arriving from Cells, approx. 20 km away. In the first 4 hours after the crash 1844 people from different organisations were at the site of the accident; 461 of these were ambulance personnel and paramedics. 39 aircraft (incl. helicopters and army aircraft) were available at the scene. Many passengers with multiple injuries were stuck in the train and had to be rescued from the severely damaged wagons. Nevertheless all patients with one exception were on the way to hospitals or in the trauma centers 2 hours after accident. 95 passengers passed away on site. The casualties were distributed among 22 hospitals, 2 of them had to be transferred to other hospitals later on for medical reasons. This speaks for the correct selection of hospitals. There were many reasons for the quick rescue and the success of Eschede, namely good weather conditions, the time of the accident (normal working day) the availability of rescue by air, the great number of doctors, ambulance personnel, paramedics and search and rescue teams on site, as well as the excellent cooperation between the different organisations, mainly fire brigades, police, army, border patrol, technical assistance teams and search and rescue coordinators).