UPDATED: 12:20 p.m. GMT
BERLIN — Two trains crashed head-on in southern Germany early Tuesday, leaving at least nine people dead and 150 injured, including 50 severely, police said. All survivors have now been taken to safety and investigators are beginning to look through the wreckage.
German news agency Dpa, citing a federal police official on the scene, says that about 150 people were injured in the crash Tuesday morning between two regional trains near Bad Aibling, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) southeast of Munich.
Police spokesman Stefan Sonntag told The Associated Press that the two regional trains crashed head-on on the single track between Rosenheim and Holzkirchen shortly before 7 a.m. local time on Tuesday.
A spokesman for German Federal Police in Bavaria, Matthias Knott, said that the crash took place "in an inaccessible region."
"This is the biggest accident we have had in years in this region and we have many emergency doctors, ambulances and helicopters on the scene," Sonntag said.
Sonntag said several rescue helicopters were also involved.
"We have a lot, a lot of staff on the ground who are all involved in the rescue efforts," he said.
A German news agency reported that the rail line is used by commuters going to Munich for work. Usually schoolchildren also take the trains, but they are currently on winter vacation.
The operator of the two trains that crashed, Bayerische Oberlandbahn, says on its website that the trains of the so-called Meridian line both partially derailed and are wedged into each other.
Both the trains' operator and federal police in Bavaria have activated phone hotlines for family and relatives.